31 



II. BDELLOMORPHA. 



I. CllYPTOCCELA. 

 Fam. I. ONCHOBOTHRIID^. 



Onchobothriid^ (— ), Baird, Entoz. Brit. Mus. 39. 

 PoLYCOTYLA, BlainvUle hi Diet, des Sc. nat. Ivii. 669 (1828). 



Obs. The body is somewhat pear-shaped, but flat, and broadest at 

 the posterior end, which is furnished with several small suckers in 

 pairs on the margin. 



1. OCTOBOTHRIUM, Leuckart, 1827. 



Octobothriutn, Nordmann, Mikrograph. Beitr. i. 76; and in Lam. 



An. s. Vert. 2de edit. iii. 599. Baird in Entoz. Brit. Mus. 40. 

 Diclidophora, Diesinc/, Syst. Helm. i. 417- 



Char. Body somewhat oval or lanceolate, acephalous : mouth sub- 

 terminal : suckers pedunculated, eight, separate, with four mobile 

 membranous valves. 



1 . 0. palmatum, lanceolate, produced in front into a short neck ; 

 suckers on a cylindrical pedicle, spreading in a palmate fashion. 

 Length 7-12'"; breadth 2-2^'". 



Octobothrium digitatum, Rathke in Nov. Act. Nat. Curios, xx. 242 



(1843), tab. 12. f. 12-15. Rep. Zool. Ray Soc. 1847, 472. 

 Diclidophora palmata, Dies. Syst. Helm. i. 417. 

 Octodactylus inhajrens, Daly ell, Pow. Great, ii. 2G2. pi. 36. f. 1,2. 



Hab. "Infests the gills of the ling, to which it adheres with con- 

 siderable tenacity." — Daly ell. 



Descr. " It is of a thin and flattened form, extending nine lines in 

 extreme length, by about two in the broadest part. One extremity 

 dilates into two portions, to the right and left, each composed of 

 four tentacular-looking organs, a line in length. The remainder of 

 the body tapers downwards, much like that of the common Pla- 

 narise. A longitudinal internal cavity seems to consist of a larger 

 and a smaller compartment ; besides which numerous pinnate organs 

 also occupy the substance of the body. The colour of the whole is 

 bluish-grey. The body being remarkably thin, soft, and flexible, it 

 applies closely to its site, with some adhesion ; and the two anterior 

 portions clasp the rib of the gills in their fold. They have little 

 other motion than slightly extending and contracting." — Dalyell. 



