ig2i.] ]. Stevhu-nso-n: Indian Oligouliae/a. 747 



on the basis of Gardiner's collections from the Maldives and I,acca- 

 dives, made in 1899 ^^'^^ IQOO (i). Beddard received two species 

 only from the Laccadives, both from Minikoi, — ■Poniodrilus lacca- 

 divcnsis (united by Michaelsen with PoK/ot/n'fes bermudcnsis, Bedd.), 

 and Megascolex maimtii (Kinb.)- In the present more extensive 

 collection also only two species are found, Megascolex mauritii 

 (Kinb.) and Megascolex konkanensis, Fedarb. 



Pontodvilus bermndensis, littoral in habit, as are all the species 

 of the genus, has spread widely on the shores of tropical and 

 subtropical seas all round the world. Megascolex mauritii is also 

 in a special degree peregrine ; it is very common in India, and 

 inhabits also the lands bordering the Indian Ocean, and S. and 

 S.E. Asia generally. Megascolex konkanensis is common on the 

 Malabar coast, — i.e. that part of India which is nearest to the 

 islands, and with which communication is most frequent. 



It appears therefore that the earthworm fauna of the I^acca- 

 dives, as was to be expected, is entirely introduced, and is very 

 limited in the number of species. 



The Indian Tubificidae. 



Tubificids appear to be rare in India, and hitherto only four 

 species have been recorded, belonging to as many genera : — 

 Branchiura suwerbyi, Bedd., Liinnodrilus socialise Stph., Bothrio- 

 neurum iris, Bedd., and Monopylephorns parvus, Ditlevsen. The 

 present communication brings a fresh record for Branchiura sow- 

 erbyi (from Manipur), and adds two more species to the Indian 

 list, — Tubifex {T.) iubifex and a new Aulodrilus. 



Branchiura sowerbyi, remarkable for its gills, was discovered 

 first by Beddard in the mud of the Victoria regia tank in the 

 Royal Botanical Society's Gardens in London in 1892 , it was not 

 seen again for sixteen years, when Michaelsen found it in a warm 

 water tank of the Botanical Gardens at Hamburg ; Southern then 

 found specimens in the Victoria regia tank at Dublin, and Perrier 

 in the Rhone; and in recent years a number of finds have been 

 recorded by Keyl and Stephenson from warm houses in Europe, 

 and from the open in India, Burma, China and Japan. Indeed it 

 appears to be quite common in the East. 



Tubifex {Tubifex) tubifex (O. F. M.), a widely spread European 

 siiecies, is now found in the Nilgiris, where it differs but slightly 

 from the common form. 



The genus Aulodrilus was established by Bretscher in 1899 (2) 

 for .-1. lininobius, found in Switzerland. Though he places it as an 

 appendix to the Tubificidae, he recognizes that it fits in neither 

 W'th that family nor with the Lumbriculidae, and suspects that it 

 may be necessary to found a new family for it. The reproduc- 

 tive organs are still, as thej' were to Bretscher, unknown ; but 

 the genus is distinguished from most other Tubificidae by the 

 fact that the needle setae (crotchets) have the upper tooth (the 

 one on the outer side of the curve of the shaft) much smaller than 



