210 U.S. NATIONAL IVIUSEUM BULLETIN 227 



setae being formed among the compound setae. The elongation of the 

 parapodia and setae takes place only when the sexual products are 

 almost ripe; their bodies become distended by the fully developed 

 gametes which fill the body cavity, and the animal is transformed into 

 a veritable sac with eggs or sperm and swims to the surface, the sexual 

 products are ejected from the mouth, the proboscis being absent. 



The epitokous stage lasts but a short time; after spawning, the 

 animals die (Fage and Legendre, 1927; St0p-Bowitz, 1941). Not all 

 glycerids swarm (Klawe and Dickie, 1957, found no evidence for 

 swarming in Olycera dihranchiata). 



The glycerids or proboscis worms occur in sandy or muddy habitats 

 and are active burro wers. The muscular S3^stem is very powerful and 

 so arranged as to enable them to coil themselves into the shape of an 

 open spiral, like a corkscrew, and then to rapidly rotate themselves on 

 the axis of the spiral. When irritated, they apply the pointed head 

 to the surface, and then by a vigorous thrust of the proboscis they 

 penetrate a considerable space into the loose wet mud or sand. The 

 body is then rotated with a screw-motion, and it penetrates with 

 great rapidity and disappears almost instantly. They appear to be 

 poor swimmers and seldom appear at the surface, spending almost all 

 their time in the soil. 



They are detritus feeders. Food is taken in by everting the 

 proboscis, the large jaws being used to grasp particles. The proboscis, 

 then, functions not only for grasping and ingesting food but for 

 locomotion. Indigestible material is thrown off from the mouth. 



There is no true blood vascular system; the coelomic fluid takes 

 the place of blood and is propelled freely through the coelomic spaces, 

 including the eversible proboscis and the branchiae, when present. 

 The common name "bloodworm" is associated with the pinkish to red 

 color given the body by the red coelomic fluid (hemoglobin in corpus- 

 cles in the coelomic fluid). They seem to be liable to wounds and 

 ruptures and are irritable. 



Contains only one New England genus. 



Genus Glycera (Savigny, MS.) Lamarck, 1818 



Rhynchobolus Claparede, 1868; type (herein designated): Rhynchoholus convolutus 



(Keferstein, 1862). 

 Euglycera Verrill, 1881; type (monotypy) : Euglycera dihranchiata (Ehlers, 1868). 



Type (monotypy): Glycera unicornis (Savigny, ms.) Lamarck, 1818. 



The 4 species represented have the body cylindrical, thickest about 

 anterior third, tapering slightly anteriorly and more so posteriorly. 

 Prostomimn (figs. 53,a,6; 55a) conical, longer than wide, rather 

 obscurely transversely annidated with eight or more rings. Basal 

 ring (peristomium fused with prostomium) with paired retractile 



