THE OLIGOCH^iiTA OF NATAL AND ZULULAND. 403 



from a box containing plants sent from Durban ; and tliere 

 is consequently no real security that the specimens came 

 from Durban. Even if they actually did come from there, 

 the species may have been inti'oduced with foreign plants. 

 Also Eu. durbanensis is one of the very few of the older 

 species which has not been found again in Natal. This is a 

 suspicious circumstance, and it would be unwise to base a.ny 

 conclusions with regard to geographical distribution on such 

 an insecure foundation. 



In addition to the peregrine species we have to remove the 

 littoral species P o n t o d r i 1 u s b e r m u d e n s i s Bedd. f . t y pi c u s. 

 iSuch littoral species, to which the sea is not an impassable 

 barrier, have a very diiferent kind of distribution to the bulk 

 of the Oligochasta, which avoid saltwater, and to which the 

 sea-shore is a strict limit. Pontodrilus bermudensis is a 

 species occurring on the sea-shore of all oceans in the warmer 

 zones, and therefore its presence does not assist in charac- 

 terising the oligochaste fauna of our region. 



The remaining species on the list are endemic, and represent 

 the typical, i.e. the primordial, oligochtete fauna of the 

 country. These alone are of use in establishing the geo- 

 graphical relations, which will be found are in accord with 

 the geological history of the continent. The indigenous 

 oligocliEete fauna is composed of three different groups, belong- 

 ing to different families or sub-families, and exhibiting quite 

 diiferent faunistic relations. 



These three groups are: (1) The genus Chilota of the 

 section Chilotacea, sub-fam. Acanthodrilin^, fam. Mega- 

 scolecida?; (2) the sub-fam. Ocnerodrilin^, ffim. Mega- 

 scolecidas; (8) the sub-fam. Microcha3tinte, fam. Grlosso- 

 scolecidee. To these might be added a questionable fourth 

 group represented by Eudriloides durbanensis with 

 doubtful origfin. 



(1) Section Chilotacea. — This group is represented by 

 four species and one variety of the genus Chilota. 



The distribution of the genus Chilota appears to be re- 

 stricted as follows. In the southern parts of Africa there are 



