156 NEREIDiE. 



to old shells ; and I often find small specimens under the coriaceous 

 base of Lobularia digit at a. A comparison of living individuals with 

 Miiller's figure left no doubt of their identity with his species. The 

 globule in Miiller's figure, which has been mistaken for a ** gland," 

 is an egg forced into the position it occupies by slight pressure or, 

 naturally, from over-distension. In examining specimens in May, I 

 found the body literally crammed with ova ; and in some, one or 

 more feet were quite distorted by the ova having obtained access 

 within the lobes. 



(a) Berwick Bay, Dr. Johnston. 



(b) Bexhill, Brit. Mus. 



(c) From an oyster shell, London market, E. Boubleday. 



(d) Falmouth. 



6. N. imbecillis, jaws slender, edentulous ; tentacular cirri not longer 

 than the diameter of the post-occipital segment, which is larger 

 than the second ; feet oblique, with conical obtuse lobes, the dorsal 

 twice as large as the others, with its cirrus prolonged beyond the 

 apex ; terminal piece of the bristles smooth. Length 4". 



Nereis imbecillis, Grube, Actin. 7^ ; Fam. Annel. 48. 

 Hab. The littoral region ? 



Obs. Readily distinguished by the character of its oral organs, for 

 the edentulous condition of the jaws is accompanied with a similar 

 deficiency of armature in the proboscis. This is unfurnished with 

 prickles, excepting some small light-coloured ones, which are seated 

 in a cluster on the two dorsal mammillae of the basal segment. The 

 eyes are large and approximate. The segments are nearly equal, 

 narrow, smooth, convex dorsally, and flattened as usual on the ven- 

 tral surface. The dorsal lobe of the foot is much larger and more 

 protuberant than the others, but similar in shape. The upper seti- 

 gerous branch is obsolete ; the lower papillary. The ventral cirrus 

 is remote in its insertion, and reaches half-way to the apex of the 

 ventral lobe. 



The species appears to be similar in form to the N. ccerulea^ but 

 the only specimen in the collection has its lower half in a state of 

 decomposition, and the colour is discharged; it is now a uniform 

 white, with a tinge of rose-red on the back. 



{a) Sandgate, Kent, Mus. Leach. 



7. N. Dumerilii, post-occipital segment rather longer than the 

 second ; tentacular cirri three times longer than its breadth ; dorsal 

 cirrus projecting considerably beyond the apex of the lobe ; lobes 

 oblique, papillary, the upper setigerous, obsolete ; jaws with about 

 twelve denticles, extended to the point. Length 4". 



Nereis Dumerilii, Aud. Sf M.-Edw. Litt. de la France, ii. 196. John- 

 ston in Ann. Nat. Hist. v. 174. Rathke in Nov. Act. Cur. CcBsar. 

 Leop. XX. 163 (1843), tab. 8. f. 4, 5. Grube, Fam. Annel. 48. 



