BDELLOID ROTIFERA OF SOUTH AFRICA. 75 



The upper lip is broad anteriorly and has three lobes, or rather, 

 small conical protuberances. " 



Habitat. — Rock moss, Euphorbia kloof, Uitenhage district. 

 Rare. 



Philodina proterva sp. nov. 

 PL 5, figs. 12-12a. 



Specific Characters. — Of rather small size ; glaucous in colour. 

 Trunk heavy, but extremities rather light. Lamella fairly large 

 and very transparent. Antenna short, about one-third of neck 

 width. Brain mass large, without eye-spots. Dental bulb small 

 with two medium-sized teeth. Lumbar region not very heavy ; 

 foot narrow and short, of four segments. Spurs very distinctive. 

 Corona not wide-spreading, with sulcus about two-thirds of disc 

 width. Upper lip wide in front and almost straight across. 

 Size, l/80th inch. 



This is a very active and vigorous animal. It moves at very 

 great speed, and is most restless, making it extremely difficult to 

 examine. The trunk is not very transparent on account of the 

 number of oil globules. It feeds voraciously — a perfect pig — and 

 swells up into a barrel in a short time. It soon becomes so swollen 

 and heavy that it has great difficulty in creeping, sometimes 

 swinging right over sideways, as it tries to plant its foot forward. 

 When feeding, it occasionally bunches part of the trunk forward, 

 forming a constriction in the middle. The jaws work at such a 

 tremendous pace, that one cannot even catch the flash of the 

 teeth passing up and down. 



Great circular muscles can be seen on the trunk and lumbar 

 region, and some half-dozen longitudinal ones passing up into the 

 cervical. The circular ones are very plainly visible, dorsally, 

 over the ovary and eggs, but the stomach investment is too 

 dense to show them well. There are some eight or ten in the 

 trunk and lumbar region. The glistening of the muscles gives 

 the trunk a very peculiar appearance in some specimens. 



It has rather a short rostrum with great cilia. There is a large 

 hemispherical granulated gland, attached to the posterior of 

 the dental bulb. The contractile vesicle is large and of short 

 period. The foot is short, and has four segments, the second 

 and third being very short. Heavy foot glands extend far up into 



