POLYCHAETE WORMS, PART 1 147 



especially abundant in June through August (Massachusetts), in Au- 

 gust (Maine) ; sexual stolons in surface waters have been found in June 

 to October; sexual forms are common in inshore plankton in late 

 spring and early summer in British Isles (Whitstable, Newell, 1954). 



AIaterial examined. — Gulf of St. Lawi'ence (off Cape Bon Ami, 

 30 fathoms), Maine (Gulf of Maine; Muscongus Bay near Hog 

 Island, 2 fathoms), Massachusetts (Woods Hole region; Martha's 

 Vineyard; Sandwich, Cape Cod; Hadley Harbor, Naushon Island; 

 Vineyard Sound, 13 fathoms), Rhode Island (Narragansett Bay), 

 Maryland (Rum Harbor, Chincoteague Bay), North Carolina (Beau- 

 fort), Georgia (Sapelo Island). 



Distribution. — Norway to France, Madeira, Mediterranean, South 

 Africa, Gulf of St. Lawrence to Georgia. Low water to 30 fathoms; 

 sexual stolons at surface. 



Autolytus alexandri Malmgren, 1867 



Figure S7,f,g 



Stephanosyllis ornata Verrill, 1874a, p. 132, pi. 4, fig. 1. 



Autolytus alexandri Verrill, 1881, p. 292, pi. 12, fig. 8.— Hartman, 1942b, p. 13; 



1944a, p. 338, pi. 13, fig. 11; 1945, p. 17, pi. 2, fig. 11.— Miner, 1950, p. 294, 



pi. 96.— Pettibone, 1954, p. 246; 1956a, p. 555. 

 Proccraca (Stcphnnosyllis) ornata Webster and Benedict, 1887, p. 724. 

 Autolytus vcrrilli Grainger, 1954, p. 513. — Berkeley and Berkeley, 1956a, p. 236. 



Description. — Stem form length up to 18 mm., width up to 0.8 

 mm., segments up to 82; nuchal epaulettes conspicuous, lanceolate, 

 extending posteriorly on setigers 2-4; a second pan* dorsal cirri about 

 as long as lateral antennae and upper pair tentacular cutI, rest 

 of dorsal cirri rather irregular in length, longer and shorter, some 

 as long as or longer than body width; body colorless or transversely 

 banded with reddish to brownish granules, may be 2 bands per seg- 

 ment, with dorsal ciliated transverse bands; sexual buds produced 

 singly (?), with head forming between setigers 25 and 26 (according 

 to Hartman, 1945). 



Female stolon with 14 prenatatory, 18-30 natatory, 10-63 post- 

 natatory setigers; nuchal epaulettes on first 3 setigers; eggs in 2-lobed 

 egg sac. Male stolon with 14 prenatatory, 27-37 natatory, 11-23 

 postnatatory setigers; 4 paii"s of testes in setigers 10-13 (Moore, ms.). 



Biology. — Found at low water in tide pools, on pile scrapings 

 among large barnacles. Dredged on bottoms of mud, sand, gravel, 

 stones, rocks, with algae, sponges, bryozoans, hydroids, ascidians (as 

 sandy Amaroecium) , worm tubes, and shells. Sexual stolons found 

 at surface in March and April (Massachusetts), in June (Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, June 27, 1953, June 1, 1954), in June to August (Canadian 

 Arctic, Grainger, 1954). 



