| 
i 
| 
JOTTINGS—AGLAOPHENIA MYRIOPHYLLUM, LINN. 83 
sisting of one male and two females. In that case the copartner- 
ship was somewhat doubtful, as were also their specific relations, 
but in the following instance there can be no such doubt. 
Six females and one male of Anceus mawillaris were found 
enclosed in the small cavity between the hinging portions of the 
two valves of an old dead shell of Pecten maximus, dredged in 
12 fathoms water, Firth of Clyde. With one exception, the 
females were full of ova. As there can be little doubt that they 
were living harmoniously and in apparent unity, it seems likely 
that this arrangement had been entered upon by common consent. 
Whether the male enticed the females into his retreat, or the latter 
selected their dwelling-place, or the meeting between the male and 
six females was only accidental, are problems which, although 
interesting, may be difficult to solve. 
The male is robust and powerful in comparison to the female, 
while his pair of formidable mandibles are well-fitted to rule or 
_ defend those under his care. 
The most remarkable stage in the life-history of <Anceus 
masillaris is referred to by Spence Bate and Westwood. In their 
British Sessile-eyed Crustacea, vol. ii., page 181, they state that 
powerful as the mandibles seem to be, they are useless in assisting 
to procure food, and that he is only provided with them in the 
adult state, as after that time both male and female change their 
oral organs with the final or adult moult, and then they appear 
to have neither mouth, stomach, nor alimentary canal. At this 
stage they complete the end of their existence by perpetuating 
their kind. 
AGLAOPHENIA MYRIOPHYLLUM, Linn. 
[Read 28rd February, 1894.] 
The specimen exhibited to the Society was taken by a fisherman 
on his long line off Cumbrae in 12 fathoms, attached to a valve of 
Pecten opercularis, It is a handsome species at all stages of 
growth, and not likely to be mistaken for any other. Hincks, 
in his British Hydrozoa, vol. ii., p. 290, says that it attains a 
height of from 6 to 12 inches, and, in luxuriant specimens, 18 
inches. It is a deep-water species and considered rare, 
