556 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. los 



Distribution: Widely distribjited in the Arctic. Also Iceland, 

 Ireland to Mediterranean; Labrador to Maine; Bering Sea to Wash- 

 ington; north Japan Sea. In low water to 444 fathoms; sexual 

 epitokes at surface. 



Family Nereidae 



Geims Nereis Cuvier, 1817 



Key to the subgenera and species of Nereis from Labrador and 



Newfoundland 



1. Three notopodial ligiiles in anterior segments. Dorsal ligules enlarged, foli- 



aceous, lanceolate, with dorsal cirri emerging near bases of ligules. Parag- 



naths present on all 8 areas of proboscis N. (Ncanthe s) virens 



Two notopodial ligules. Paragnaths of areas I or V or both missing (A''. 

 {Nereis)) 2 



2. Parapodial ligules short, thick, evenly rounded. Paragnaths of distal ring: 



area I (mediodorsal), 2 in tandem (rarely 1 or 3). Paragnaths of basal 

 ring: area V (dorsomedial), 0; area VI (dorsolateral), 4 in square or cross 

 (rarely 3 or 5) ; VII-VIII (ventral), several continuous rows, diminishing in 

 size progressively posteriorly. Uniformly purplish or reddish brown, not 



banded N. (Nereis) pelagica 



Parapodial ligules triangular to conical, gradually tapering to a broad tip. 

 Paragnaths of distal ring: area I, or 1. Paragnaths of basal ring: area 

 V, 0; area VI, 6-10 or more in oval mass; areas VII-VIII, continuous row 

 of larger paragnaths followed by a wide band of small subequal ones. Trans- 

 versely banded reddish brown or violet N. (Nereis) zonata 



Nereis {NeanLhes) virens Sars, 1835 



Alitta virens Malmgren, 1865, p. 183; 1867, p. 56, pi. 3, fig. 19. 



Nereis virens Webster and Benedict, 1884, p. 717; 1887, p. 724. — Sumner, Osburn, 

 and Cole, 1913, p. 620.— Fauvel, 1923, p. 348, fig. 134,g-k.— Not Annenkova, 

 1938, p. 160.— Thorson, 1946, p. 69.— Not Berkeley and Berkeley, 1948, 

 p. 62, fig. 92; 1954, p. 458— Not Zatsepin, 1948, p. 119, pi. 30, fig. 4.— 

 Wesenberg-Lund, 1951, p. 42. 



Neanthes virens Hartman, 1944a, pp. 335, 339. 



Remarks: The Atlantic A'^. virens differs from the closely related 

 Pacific N. hrandti (Malmgren) as follows: In A^. virens, the upper 

 ligules are large, foliaceous, lanceolate almost from the first; in 

 A'', hrandti, the upper ligules are small, conical on anterior segments, 

 gradually becoming larger and foliaceous in middle and posterior 

 segments. In N. virens, paragnaths of areas VII-VIII (ventral) of 

 basal ring consisting of transverse band of 3 irregular rows; that of 

 A^. hrandti consisting of about 8 rows, with the paragnaths larger 

 anteriorly and getting smaller posteriorly. 



New records: Newfoundland: Port Saunders, intertidal; 2 

 specimens, Station 65. East Coast North America: Off Newfound- 

 land, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, 



