274 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. ii4 



created the new combination Bdellodrilus philadelphicus. There is, 

 of course, little close affinity between philadelphica and Bdellodrilus 

 illuminatus. 



Thus, by the beginning of the present century, only a single species 

 of Cambarincola had been described among the total of six branchio- 

 bdellids then loiown from America. In 1912 a new impetus to the 

 study of the group came in the form of two important papers. One 

 of these was a synopsis of the entire famUy by Umberto Pierantoni, 

 which listed all of the species laiown to hmi up to that time, and 

 included the description of a new species, Branchiobdella americana, 

 from Texas and North Carolina. This form is almost certainly a 

 species of Cambarincola as the genus is defined today. Almost 

 sunultaneously, a short paper was published by Max M. Ellis in which 

 Cambarincola was established as a new genus for the reception of the 

 new species macrodonta from Colorado. 



The description of macrodonta is a good one, and includes illustra- 

 tions of the jaws and a partial diagram of the male reproductive 

 system. Comparison was made largely with philadelphica, which was 

 one of the originally included species, and which was differentiated 

 largely on the basis of peristomial characters. 



During the next several years, Ellis accumulated data from his own 

 collections and that of the U.S. National Museum. In 1918 he pub- 

 lished a brief annotated list of branchiobdellids obtained in northern 

 Michigan, and provided a key for their identification. This treatment 

 included Cambarincola philadelphica and a new species called 

 C. vitrea, although the latter was not formally described and the nota- 

 tion was made that a complete description was then in press. In 

 the following year appeared Ellis's major work, a summary of the 

 branchiobdellid material of the U.S. National Museum. This paper 

 included a discussion of variability in various systematic characters, 

 photographs of entire animals, and the descriptions of several new 

 genera and species. A key was given for the known forms of 

 Cambarincola, with notes and records on established species and full 

 descriptions of C. vitrea, C. inversa, and C. chirocephala, the last two 

 names published for the first time. 



Following the appearance of this useful paper, EHis diverted his 

 interests into other channels, and the systematic study of our branchio- 

 bdellid fauna languished for several decades. During the last years of 

 the 1930's, Clarence J. Goodnight took up the study of the group, 

 publishing several papers between 1939 and 1943. His major work is 

 a synopsis of the North American branchiobdellids, which appeared 

 in 1940. Here he accounted for 21 species in 9 genera, with 4 of the 

 species being described as new. Insofar as Cambarincola was con- 

 cerned. Goodnight admitted the genus in virtually the same sense as 



