332 ORDER ANAXONCHIA 



uncertainty on this point, as all the female specimens so far examined have 

 lacked the posterior portion of the tail; the portion present has the same form 

 as the corresponding portion of the tail of the male. From the inconspicuous 

 vulva, the vagina leads inward and probably slightly forward. The eggs are 

 about three to four times as long as the body is wide and about one-fourth as wide 

 as long. The tail of the male is conoid in the anterior fourth in such fashion 

 that at the beginning of the second fourth, its diameter is about one-third as great 

 as at the anus; thence onward, it tapers much less rapidly, and in the posterior 

 half hardly tapers at all, the diameter for a considerable distance in front of the 

 terminus being no greater than that of the thickness of the body-wall. There 

 is present behind the anus a collection of cells which bear some resemblance 

 to caudal glands, but whether they really are caudal glands and empty through 

 a spinneret at the terminus remains uncertain. The seventeen equidistant 

 supplementary organs are rounded, low, conoid papillae separated by distances 

 about equal to their own diameters, and occupy a distance from two to three 

 times as great as the corresponding body-diameter. These organs appear to be 

 innervated, but they at times closely resemble mere transverse corrugations 

 of the cuticle. Behind the anus, at least when the tail is incurved, there are 

 folds in the cuticle that present a very similar appearance to those just described 

 as supplementary organs, occurring in front of the anus; these are confined to 

 the wide and muscular portion of the tail, and do not extend, as a rule, as far 

 backward as the corresponding appearances in front of the anus extend forward. 

 Spicula somewhat longer than the anal body-diameter, 

 more strongly arcuate toward their proximal extremities 

 than near the anus. They extend about two-thirds the 

 distance across the body and then curve around toward 

 body-axis. There extend from the proximal ends 

 toward the anus nearly straight refractive elements that 

 '^fofii pill 06 mav possibly indicate that the spicula are much wider 

 V-^^ffil *^ e m iddle than at either extremity. The spicula are 



accompanied by accessory pieces which extend inward 

 f 7"tt4ifx IdWluin 06 from the anus pretty nearly at right angles and end near 

 the body-axis. The ejaculatory duct is two-fifths as wide as the body. Pos- 

 terior testis much the smaller. 



Habitat: Bath Tub Springs, Jamaica, near Salt River. These are salt springs 

 having about body temperature. Fig. 111. 



_1._6 _ _5.3_ jqa _ _^'_61t^ _ J5 9 ^ 



112. Croconema cinctum n. sp. 2.3 2.6 /( ,, 2.6 3.6 i.s 72 " " Cuticle thick 

 transparent, yellow, composed of about 500 annules imparting to the contour 

 of the body throughout a distinctly crenate appearance, and bearing numerous 

 short, stiff, slightly curved bristles, having a length somewhat greater than its 

 own thickness. The cuticle of the head seems to consist of a single, somewhat 

 hemispherical helmet-like piece. In all, there must be at least six irregular longi- 

 tudinal rows of setae on the "helmet," but it seems impossible to pick out any 

 single circlet of these setae that particularly merit the term cephalic setae. 

 The spreading setae on the neck curve backward. Both here and toward the 

 tail end, these setae are shorter than near the middle of the body where they 

 are tapering, acute, nearly twice as long as the cuticle is thick and have a base 

 one-fourth as wide as the distance between two successive annules of the cuticle. 

 When the mouth is closed, the tips of the lips are bunched at the middle of the 

 front of the head. There appear to be about twelve of these tips. The pharynx 



