82 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



A. aculeata but rather wider and deeper relatively to the length. Except that I see no 

 eyes, Kinberg's figure (3 B) of the head well represents that of these specimens. The 

 prostomium is rounded and devoid of ocular peduncles. There is a very long and 

 slender median tentacle without a distal enlargement : it is about three times as long as 

 the head and two-thirds of the length of the palps. Its slightly stouter tentaculophore 

 is about as long as the head. There is a large, laterally compressed, papillated facial 

 tubercle. The tentacular cirri are short, being only about two-thirds of the length of the 

 median tentacle. The tentacular segment, as usual, carries only notopodial bristles. 



The elytra are figured by Kinberg : their surface is covered with a network of very 

 fine lines and they carry a few minute papillae. The dorsal felting is very solid and 

 compact and has a thickness of about i mm. The dorsal spines are very long, relatively 

 twice as long as those oi A. aculeata, and sharp, and show about 18 mm. of length above 

 the dorsal felting. They make a formidable palisade above the back but leave uncovered 

 a narrow path down the middle. The silky, capillary dorsal bristles appear to be quite 

 smooth, and are thickly covered with mud. 



The ventral bristles of the first two feet (2nd and 3rd chaetigers) are of three types: 

 (i) the upper are stout dark brown bristles with slightly curved ends ; (2) the middle are 

 rather long bristles with most of the shaft smooth but pinnate towards the slender tip ; 

 (3) the lower are rather like the middle bristles, but much smaller and with strongly 

 developed pinnae over most of their length (Fig. 2 i). In the middle feet the ventral 

 bristles consist of smooth, strong chaetae with slightly hooked ends. They are not 

 bearded. 



In the hinder neuropods there are the usual denticulated bristles similar to those 

 figured by me (Monro, 1930, fig. 5/-?) for A. aha. In the middle feet the ventral cirri 

 reach to the end of the foot, in the posterior feet they are longer. 



Remarks. This species is characterized by the long median tentacle and by the 

 palisade of dorsal spines. A. aiistralis has prominent, long dorsal bristles, but they are 

 flattened, relatively delicate structures, very difl^erent from the sharp spines of this 

 species. 



Of the species of Aphrodite from high southern latitudes A. echidna, Quatrefages of 

 Mcintosh, has a very short median tentacle and short sharp spines projecting through 

 the dorsal felting; A. alta, Kinberg, has dorsal bristles with slender hooked tips which 

 do not penetrate the dorsal felting. 



Aphrodite talpa, Quatrefages (Fig. 3). 



Quatrefages, 1865, i, p. 196, pi. vi, figs. 2-4. 



Fauvel, 1925, p. 140, fig. 4 a-l. 



Non Ehlers, nee Benham, Augener, Fauvel (191 7). 



Occurrence. St. 936, New Zealand (3); 939, New Zealand (i). 



Specific characters. This species is characterized by the slenderness of the dorsal 

 bristles which are entangled for most of their length in the dorsal felting, but have their 

 ends lying obliquely along the back. Moreover, the narrowing of the hinder end into 

 a kind of tail which is apparent in most members of the genus to some extent, is here 



