413 



THE EARTHWORMS OF THE HAWAHAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



By Frank E. Beddard, M.A., F.R.S., Prosector and Vice-Secretary of the 



Zoological Society of London. 



Some of the specimens which I have received from the Hawaiian archipelago have 

 been already described by me'. Since the publication of that paper Mr Perkins has 

 sent a second series of bottles containing a large number of fresh individuals. In the 

 present memoir upon the earthworm fauna of this part of the world I deal with the 

 entire series of specimens and attempt to give a complete account of all the earthworms 

 which have been described from the Hawaiian islands, whether they are or are not 

 contained in the collections which I have myself examined. The collections made by 

 Mr Perkins consist of so many individuals that they probably present a very fair speci- 

 men of the Oligochaetous fauna of Hawaii. It is therefore permissible to point out what 

 appear to me to be justifiable deductions from the material examined. The fact that the 

 second set of specimens contained hardly anything that was not in the first set supports 

 my contention that I have been able to study a very representative collection. 



Dr Michaelsen" in criticising my previous paper upon this subject advanced the 

 opinion that there are no truly indigenous worms in these oceanic islands. I myself 

 pointed out the absence of really peculiar forms, a general feature of oceanic islands and 

 which at least argues their comparatively short existence. Dr Michaelsen attributes 

 the entire earthworm fauna to transference by man. A further study of the matter 

 inclines me to agree with him. 



There are many species of Lumbricidae contained in the collections which I 

 have examined ; and the list which I gave originally can be increased. But the subject 

 does not demand, I believe, more than a mere list of the species. They are clearly to 

 be regarded as importations due to man. 



' On some Earthworms from the Sandwich islands, &c. P. Z. S. 1896, pp. 194-2 11. 

 ^ Oligochaeten von den Inseln des Pacific. Zool. Jahrb. Syst. xii. 1899, p. 211. 



