86 Bulletin Vanderbilt Marine Museum, Vol. VII 



Material examined: One specimen, taken on Venus Point 

 Reef, Tahiti, Society Islands, August 15, 1931, by the "Alva." 



Remarks : The single specimen taken on Venus Point Reef, 

 Tahiti, Society Islands, measures about 30 millimeters long (dead 

 and shrunken) , and consists of thirty-two somites. This specimen 

 conforms in all essentials with previous descriptions of the spe- 

 cies. The present specimen has thirty-two somites ; the body is 

 dorso-ventrally flattened, about twice as wide medially as high. 

 The prostomium is oval and bears four eyes; the tentacles are 

 short, the median tentacle being shorter than the lateral ones, no 

 longer than the caruncle. The caruncle extends to the fourth seg- 

 ment. There are four buccal segments. The notopodial and neuro- 

 podial setae are each articulated and are shorter than the setae. 

 The dorsal cluster of setae are set in a dense brush-like tuft. These 

 setae are long and of three principal types: (a) straight, needle- 

 like type wuth serrate or spinulate lateral margins and an acumi- 

 nate tip; (b) a similar, bifurcate type, very acuminate, the 

 smaller branch being one-fourth to one-fifth as long as the larger 

 branch which flares outward obliquely distally and usually has 

 both lateral margins serrulate, and (c) a stout, straight, smooth, 

 needle-like setae. The ventral cluster of setae are similarly set in 

 a dense tuft. These individual setae are relatively thicker and 

 sometimes have their bifurcate branches less unequal, varying 

 from one-half to one-eighth as long as the major branch distad 

 and serrulate. A few have a median longer branch distad, with a 

 short acuminate branch on either side. These occur near the 

 pygidium. The acicula are short, spear-headed. 



Typical setae from the "Alva" specimen are figured. These are 

 distinctive from those figured by Dr. Chamberlin, from a young 

 specimen from Papeete (his plate 14, figure 8) , in that the present 

 specimen has the lesser branch of the setum furcation longer and 

 slenderer in ratio to the longer branch, being about one-fifth to 

 one-fourth as long and more narrowly acuminate, while longer 

 branch is also finely acuminate distally and has the outer lateral 

 margin especially spinose or serrulate, the inner lateral margin 

 being less so. (Figure 5.) 



References: Aphrodite complanata, Pallas, P., Misc. Zool., 

 1766, p. 109, pi. 8, fig., 1926. 



