444 ^4. E. Verrill — Marine Nejnerte,(ins of New England. 



Order III, B DEL L OMO RPH A. 



Body short, stout, flattened, and leech-like in appearance, Avith a 

 large rounded sucker or acetabulum at the posterior end, as in the 

 leeches. Head indistinct. No ocelli. Anterior end emarginate, 

 with neither lateral slits nor grooves. Mouth at the bottom of the 

 anterior emargination. 



Proboscis seldom protruded in captivity, small, slender, unarmed, 

 but with a small special bulb and sac in the middle region ; probos- 

 cis-poi'e close to the mouth, in the anterior notch. 



Intestine not lobulated, slender, convoluted, longer than the 

 body ; anus at the base of the sucker. Reproductive organs volum- 

 inous, filling the larger part of the body. A median dorsal and two 

 lateral blood-vessels, with numerous branches. 



Muscular walls of the body consist of an external circular, and an 

 internal longitudinal layer. Lateral nerve-trunks ai'e not included 

 in the muscular layers ; they are united by a posterior commissure. 



This singular group is united to the Enopla by some writers, 

 mainly on account of the rudimentary bulb and sac in the proboscis, 

 which certainly indicate some relationship. The simple, convoluted 

 intestine and other peculiar features appear to me of ordinal value. 



Family, Malacobdellid^ Semper. 

 Characters not distinguishable from those of the sub-order. 



Malacobdella Biaiuviiie. 



Diet. Sci. Nat., vol. xlvi, p. 270 ; Blanchard, Ann. des sci. nat., ser. 3, vol. iv, p. 

 364, 1845 ; op. cit., viii, p. 142, 1847 ; op. cit., vol. xii, pp. 267-276, pi. 5, 1849, anatomy. 

 Phyllme Oken, 1815, (non Abilg-, 1790). 



This is the only genus of the order known. Therefore the generic 

 characters are not distinguishable from those of the ordei-. 



Malacobdella obesa Verriii. 



Report on Invert, of Vineyard Sound, etc., pp. 458 [164] and 625 [331], pi. 

 xvm, fig. 90, 1873. 



Wood-cut, No. 9. 

 Body stout, broad, thick, convex above, flat below, broadest near 

 the posterior end, narrowing somewhat anteriorly ; the front end is 

 broadly rounded, with a median vertical slit, in which the mouth is 

 situated. Acetabulum large, rounded, about as broad as the body. 

 Intestine convoluted posteriorly, visible through the integument. 



