THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 151 



night. During the evening, with a flowing tide, we set a surface- 

 net and got a considerable quantity of microscopical material 

 which has not yet been worked, but shows a plentiful supply of 

 Entomoslraca and larval forms of crabs. 



The following morning we steamed across to the opposite shore, 

 and spent the day in working the ground lying a little off" the 

 shore, between the quarantine boundary flagstaff and Portsea, but 

 mostly off the quarantine station. The depth varies from 7 to 15 

 fathoms, and is mostly of hard sand and dead shells, but in places 

 there are nasty hard rocky patches, and our dredge was caught 

 several times. The day's work added considerably to our collec- 

 tions, particularly in the smaller crustaceans and molluscs. 



One notable crustacean was a single specimen of the genus 

 Nebalia. The very small family to which this genus belongs is 

 of great interest, as, by retaining much of the simplicity of 

 ancestral forms, they unite certain of the Entomostraca (Phyllo- 

 poda) to the higher crustaceans (Malacostraca), and are said to 

 be related to certain of the old-time Palaeozoic fossil forms. 

 There are but three known genera in the family, and altogether 

 only a few species of the genus Nebalia. Prof Sars says we only 

 know certainly of two species, and probably a third from New 

 Zealand. The description of this latter form, by Mr. G. M. 

 Thomson, made several years ago from a single specimen, is not 

 sufficient to enable me to be sure if mine agrees with it or not. 

 Morphologically mine differs but slightly from Prof. Sars's very 

 careful description and drawings of the old world species i\^. bipes, 

 but I think it should be considered specifically distinct. I hope 

 shortly through the kindness of Mr. Thomson to learn how far 

 mine agrees with his.* Some few other crustaceans may be 

 mentioned. Isopoda — Astacilla, sp., Serolis tuberculala ; Amphi- 

 poda — Amaryllis macrophthalmus, very common ; Phoxocephalus 

 bassi, Mcera rubromucu/ata, Li/jeborgia haswelli, several specimens 

 of a new species of the genus Iphiplateia, and also Icilius 

 australis. The two latter genera are remarkable in being much 



* Since writing the above I liave received specimens from Mr. G. M. 

 Tliomson of his iV. longicorvis, witli which the Victorian one is identical in 

 all respects. It differs from N. bipes when viewed from the side, notably by 

 the fiont of the carapace descent! ing in an almost straight line and meeting 

 the ventral margin in a narrower curve ; also by a characteristic sub-marginal 

 dorsal spine, situated at the apex of each of the caudal rami, pointing upwards, 

 and differing somewhat in form from those fringing the sides. On dissection, 

 the first maxilla; have the inner masticatory lobe bearing only 10 plumose set?e 

 and no spines, while the outer one has spines of a different form (broadening 

 distally and pectinated, not simply bifid), and the palp is not so setose. The 

 branchial feet are also differently proportioned, the endopodite hardly 

 descending beyond the exopodite, its terminal joint being much more rudimen- 

 tary. The last caudal legs are also more rudimentary, and not so spinulose. 

 I hope to give a more particular description of it, with drawings, at a future 

 time. 



