174 Searle, Some Vicloricm Copepoda New to Science. [^'^rnf""^^' 



SOME VICTORIAN COPEPODA NEW TO SCIENCE. 



. (With Three Plates.) 

 By J. Searle. 

 {Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 12th Dec, 19 10.) 

 The object of this short paper is to record the occurrence in 

 Victoria of four species of Copepoda belonging to the genus 

 Brnnella. 



Some three years ago, Mr. G. W. Smith, of the Oxford 

 Universit}^ discovered on Bruni Island, Tasmania, a small 

 Copepod whose structure differed so much from any fresh-water 

 species hitherto known that it was found necessary to form a 

 new genus for its reception. From the fact that the specimen 

 was found on Bruni Island, and was not met with in any other 

 part of Tasmania, Mr. Smith called the genus Brunella and 

 the species tasmanica. 



From the description * of the genus, kindly forwarded to me 

 by Mr. Smith, I was confident I had met with a similar species 

 here before I took up the systematic study of the group, and 

 have kept a look-out for it since. 



On the 22nd of October, while collecting at Cheltenham, I 

 had the good fortune to take a number of specimens corre- 

 sponding exactly with Brunella tasmanica, and this is the first 

 record of the genus for Australia. 



On 1st November, while at Nyora with the F.N.C. excursion, 

 I was successful in capturing a new species of this interesting 

 genus in a weedy pond near the railway line. It is much larger 

 than B. tasmanica, and differs somewhat in the formation of 

 the fifth thoracic limbs of the male and in the lateral projec- 

 tions on the fifth thoracic segment of the female, while the 

 tenth, eleventh, and twelfth joints of the first antennae in both 

 male and female are bright red in colour, the rest of the antenmi 

 being pale green. 



I took this species in every form of development — from the 

 nauplius to the ovigerous female — also two specimens which 

 were attacked by a fungus, the threads of which were growing 

 out between the joints of the animal's body and limbs. 



I have called this species Brunella australis. 



On I2th November fortune again favoured me with yet 

 another species of Brunella. When living this specimen was 

 of a most beautiful iridescent green colour. Its general appear- 

 ance is similar to B. australis, but, while retaining the general 

 characteristics of the genus, it differs somewhat in structure 

 from that sy^ecies. 



I have called this species Brunella viridis. 



The fourth species was taken in the Yan Yean Reservoir, 



* riiuis. Lin. Sue. London, vol. xi., pi. 4, lyoy. 



