I02 



ANNELIDA OR ANNULATA 



SyUidae are brightly colored forms less than an inch long, which 

 are frequently found associated with sponges; some have an al- 

 ternation of generations, in Autolytus for example (Fig. 40) an 

 asexual individual sending off from its posterior end buds which 

 become male or female. 



Aphroditidae are scale bearers, the scales, called elytra^ acting 

 as breathing organs. Lepidonotus squamatus has twelve pairs of 

 elytra. Polynoe, a small form about an inch 

 long, has a large proboscis, with four strong jaws 

 and a circle of papillae. It has twelve pairs of 

 scales. Aphrodite, sometimes called the " sea 

 mouse," is about five inches long and of a bril- 

 liant iridescent color. 



Phyllodocidae are green and usually iridescent, 

 with a long head which bears four pairs of short 

 and four pairs of long tentacles. They secrete 

 slime which binds mud together. 



Nereidae include the common Nereis, which 

 may reach a length of eighteen inches. The 

 " clam worm," as it is called by fishermen, is 

 bluish green in color, and lives during the day in 

 burrows in the sand, but comes out during the 

 night, and is preyed upon by fishes. 



Nephthydidae are dorsi-ventrally flattened, 

 elongate worms, whitish in color with a distinct 

 red dorsal blood vessel. They are found in sand 

 and mud along the shore. 



Leodicidae {Eunicidae) include the Pacific 

 (Samoan) palolo worm, and the Atlantic palolo 

 worm {Leodice fucatd) of the West Indies and 

 the Gulf of Mexico, which swarm within three 

 days of the full of the July moon. (See the Sa- 

 moan palolo, page 118.) Diopatra is a large reddish brown worm, 

 found from Massachusetts to South Carolina, in long tubes which 

 project above the surface. Diopatra reaches a length of twelve 

 inches, but is difficult to capture on account of the speed with 

 which it hides in its tube. (Fig. 41.) 



Glyceridae include forms which are smooth, about eight inches 

 long, and have many segments. The small conical head has many 

 tentacles. The long proboscis has four hooked jaws. The Seden- 



FiG. 40. A sex- 

 ual individual of 

 Autolytus with 

 male about to de- 

 tach. (From Ver- 

 r i 11 , Invertebrate 

 Animals of Vine- 

 yard Sound.) 



