250 THE AMFHINOMID.K, APIIRODITID.E, POLYNOID.E, AND SIGALIONID/E 



* ACdOLOE ASTERICOLA, DelU Chiaje. 



Commensal iu the ambulacral groove of Astropedcn irregularis, this 

 species is decidedly common, a very fair percentage of these echino- 

 derms being accompanied by the worm. It is comparatively easy to 

 find them ; their colour betrays them, and they can be readily turned 

 out of the ambulacral groove of the starfish, though it has hitherto 

 proved impossible to preserve specimens entire. 



Within an hour or two of capture the worm will voluntarily leave 

 its host, and may be found wandering over the various animals with 

 which it may be temporarily associated. This leads one to suppose 

 that it is free during some portion of its existence, though I can find no 

 evidence of its having been obtained in such a condition. 



It occurs on several species of the genus Astropeden, Carus (5), 



Localities. 

 Plymouth : Mewstone Grounds, off Stoke Point, S.W. ; Penlee Point, 5 miles S.E. ; 



Rame Head, 5 miles S.E. (R. A. T.). 

 Eddystone Grounds I., 



II., III. . . Fine sand . . . [T. V. H.] Allen (1). 



Lepidasthenia ARGUS, sp. 710V. Size to 8| inches. 



General appearance. An elongated worm of upwards of 200 seg- 

 ments, coloured a warm buff, with a transverse band of dark brown 

 between each segment. A red longitudinal line on ventral surface. 



Elytra numerous, not very large comparatively, completely covering 

 the sides of the body, but leaving a conspicuous median portion exposed ; 

 translucent, with a dark -coloured, more or less fan-shaped patch 

 posterior to the centre ; behind this a narrow crescentic band of 

 opaque white, 



specific characters. 



Prostomium. Broad, red, with an antero-median depression dividing 

 it into two lobes. Tentacles three, sub-equal, produced from the 

 anterior margin of the prostomium. Median tentacle long, com- 

 paratively stout, distinctly swollen near the filiform tip, lateral tentacles 

 more slender, the swelling indistinct. Tentacular cirri similar to the 

 lateral tentacles. All these organs are smooth and possess a deeply 

 pigmented band at the distal portion of the swelling, which is marked 

 by a band of opaque white. 



Eyes four, anterior pair wider apart and slightly larger than the 

 posterior. Proboscis with |i papillae and a small additional one on 

 each side, a short distance from the extremity. 



Elytra. On segments 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, . . . 22, 25, 28, et seq., to the end 

 of the body. The first is subcircular, some few are uniform, but most 



