16 BULLETIN: MUSEUM OF COMPAEATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



lections of Acalephs made by the "Albatross" in 1891,^ and those we 

 have made in Fiji, show a remarkable similarity between the West In- 

 dian Acalephian genera and those of this part of the Pacific. We found 

 in. Fiji Linerges, Polyclonia, Aurelia, Halopsis, Tiaropsis, Gonioneraus, 

 Liriope, Bougainvillia, Eutima, Oceania, Aglaura, Eucharis, Idj^a, Agalma, 

 two genera of Diphyes and Physalia, all genera occurring in the Gulf of 

 Mexico. This will be brought out in greater detail by Mr. Mayer, who 

 has in prepai'ation a paper on the Acalephs of our Southern States, 

 which will appear somewhat later than his report on the Acalephs col- 

 lected at Fiji. This similarity will undoubtedly be found to extend to 

 other groups of pelagic animals. 



We were fortuuate enough to be at Levuka at the time of the appear- 

 ance of the " Bololo." On the morning of the 17th of November we 

 left the ship at three o'clock, bound for a spit named Bololo Point, 

 about three miles south of Levuka. We had scarcely reached the spot 

 when our guide put his hand in the water and pulled out one of tlie 

 worms. In a few minutes the water was full of them, canoes put out from 

 the shore, men, women, and children were wading on the I'eef exposed 

 by the tide, with nets, and all kinds of utensils to catch Bololo. As the 

 light increased, the Bololo increased, and at one time they were so plen- 

 tiful that the water surrounding our boat must have been filled with them 

 so thickly as to resemble vermicelli soup. A bucket put overboard 

 seemed to contain nothing else. We made an excellent collection, and 

 preserved a large number by different methods. We found, as we had 

 expected, that their sudden appearance was connected with spawning; 

 thei'e were males and females swimming about full of eggs and of sperm. 

 When in captivity they soon discharged these, the water became milky, 

 and masses of dai'k e2;gs were left on the bottom of the dish. AYith the 

 escape of the eggs came the collapse of the worm, and nothing was left 

 but an empty skin scai'cely visible. Thus the Bololo seems suddenly to 

 disappear. The males are light yellowish brown, the females dark green. 

 Their activity is something wonderful, and the bursting of the animal 

 when it discharges its eggs is quite a peculiar phenomenon. 



Dr. Woodworth made it an object to collect all the material that 

 could be got together in regard to the Bololo, and he will prepare a 

 paper on these interesting Annelids. 



^ Reports on the Dredging Operations off the Coast of Central America, Mexico, 

 off the Galapagos, and in the Gulf of California, in Charge of Alexander Agassiz, 

 by the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer "Albatross," in 1891, in command of Lieut. 

 Com. Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N. — XXI. Die Acalephen, von Otto Maas, Mem. Mus. 

 Comp. Zool., Vol. XXIII. Xo. 1, 1897. 



