﻿SIPUNCTJLID WORMS OF CALIFORNIA — ^FISHER 383 



glands, on the order of six to eight to each oblong rectangle, into which 

 the skin is divided. These glands are immersed in the skin (which is 

 smooth to touch) and are surrounded by the peripheral portion of the 

 subdermal coelomic pockets. Coelomic fluid enters these irregular 

 spaces by way of the narrow intervals between the circular muscle 

 bands; stain forced into them indicates that the space just under the 

 epidermis is independent for each rectangle. The annular and 

 longitudinal grooves that outline the rectangles vary in depth with 

 the inflation of the skin. The posterior end of specimens is likely to 

 be very attenuate and pointed and the annuli conspicuous. On the 

 introvert the glands are very tiny, fewer, and visible only in strong 

 light. 



The introvert is not especially well marked externally except by 

 the absence of the glands, and it is the long portion characterized in- 

 ternally by the sievelike structure of the longitudinal muscle layer. 

 There are no hooks. 



The arrangement of tentacles is more easily understood in a small 

 specimen than in the adult, where they are much longer (pi. 20, fig. 1). 

 The crown, while reminiscent of Golfingia gouldii, differs in having the 

 tentacles of all the double rows, especially the dorsal, close together, 

 with the result that the nuchal organ is almost rudimentary. There 

 are 12 of these double rows separated by 12 grooves: A dorsal double 

 row (not more widely separated than the rest) reaches nearest to the 

 mouth; opposite it is a midventral; on each side, five laterals. 

 Counting clockwise from the dorsal, double rows 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 do 

 not reach quite so near the mouth as the alternates. The middorsal 

 has 7 tentacles in each series in this small specimen, the others, 

 5 and 6 as a rule. In large specimens the tentacles are relatively 

 about twice as long and 10 to 12 in each series. Large specimens 

 would therefore have upward of 240 tentacles altogether. In the 

 small specimen the inner end of the dorsal group of tentacles overlies 

 the brain, which is visible through the skin. The ve7'y small nuchal 

 organ is at the inner end of this dorsal group, well hidden by the 

 first and second tentacles, and hence is close to the brain. 



The inner longitudinal muscle layer is divided into 20 to 25 bundles, 

 which anastomose infrequently. The regular bundles cease 20 to 

 25 mm. in front of the anus and anastomose every few millimeters, 

 so that this layer from here to the head appears sievelike by reason 

 of very numerous elongate pores. The intervals between the regular 

 longitudinal muscles are crossed by the circular muscle bundles, 

 which anastomose freely. The openings between the circular fascicles 

 give entrance to the transverse lacunae, which in turn feed the 

 subcutaneous spaces that surround the skin glands. In the posterior 

 third of the body the longitudinal muscle bundles change from flat 



