author's abstract or this paper issued 
BY THE BTBUOr.RAPHTC SERVICE, MARCH 14 
THE FEEDINCl HABITS AND CHEMICAL SENSE OF 
NEREIS VIRENS, SARS 
ALFRED O. GROSS 
Searles Biological LaJioratory, Bowdoin College, Brunsxoick, Maine 
Nereis virens is a very common marine worm distributed 
along the Atlantic coast from Virginia northward to the Arctic 
regions. On the Pacific coast of America it is less common, but 
there are records of its occurrence from California northward 
to Puget Sound, Washington. In all favorable places of it^ 
range it occurs under stones or in burrows in the sand and mud 
of the intertidal areas. 
Nereis is a very favorable animal for use in experimental work 
because of its abundance and the ease with which it may be 
kept alive in the laboratory for long periods of time. Since it is 
commonly used in the zoological laboratories as a type for dissec- 
tion, a study of its habits seems desirable. 
The experimental work on the chemical sense was conducted 
at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massa- 
chusetts. I wish to express my gratitude to Prof. G. H. Parker 
who suggested the problem and who has given me helpful 
criticism. 
The fishermen and clam diggers along the New England coast 
believe that Nereis is dependent on the clam for its existence, 
hence the common name, 'clam worm.' Situations favorable 
for the clam are also attractive to Nereis, and as many of the 
worms find their way into the interior of dead snail shells or 
into the mud and sand between the two vah'es of the dead 
clams, the layman concludes that living molluscs are preyed 
upon and killed by Nereis. Zoologists, if they have any con- 
ception at all of the feeding habits of Nereis, believe it to be a 
carnivorous worm, whose powerful jaws are for the purpose of 
capturing and tearing other marine animals. In all probability, 
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