GATTIOLA. 195 



20. GATTIOLA. 



Char. Body consisting of about fifteen segments, deeply indented 

 at the sutures and narrowed in front : head small, flattened, rounded 

 and entire in front, with three long filiform unjointed antennae and 

 two lobe-like processes on the occiput : eyes four, the pairs coales- 

 cent, so that there are apparently two only : tentacular cirri two 

 pairs, similar to the antennae : foot uniramous, the dorsal cirrus fili- 

 form and greatly elongated; the bristles compound, falcate: anal 

 segment small, with two elongated styles. 



1. G. spectabilis: Plate XVI. figs. 1-7. 

 Syllis tigrina, Gosse, Icon. ined. 



Hab. The littoral region; on oyster-beds. Cullercoats, A. Han- 

 cock and Jos. Alder. Fowey, Cornwall, C. W. Peach. Tenby, 

 F. D. Dyster. Ilfracombe, P. H. Gosse. 



Desc. Worm scolopendriform, 6'" in length, about 1'" in breadth, 

 rather convex dorsally and flattened beneath, consisting of fifteen 

 nearly equal segments deeply indented at the sutures, rather shorter 

 than their diameter, narrow in front, dilated behind on both sides 

 where the feet originate, marked prettily with fuscous lines, forming 

 a sort of square on the dorsum of every segment which challenges a 

 comparison with some Hebrew letter. The anal segment is small, 

 oblong, rounded behind, and terminated with two long setaceous 

 styles. Feet protuberant, uniramous, furnished with a very long 

 dorsal filiform cirrus, and with the ventral cirrus in the form of rather 

 a large lanceolate lobe projecting beyond the setigerous lobe, which 

 carries a fan-shaped fascicle of bristles ; these are colourless, com- 

 pound, the terminal piece falcate and smooth, or, under a high mag- 

 nifier, denticulated at the tip. 



The colour of living specimens appears to be cream-yellow or 

 white, with its peculiar brown markings. Mr. Alder says, "The 

 filaments were of a delicate rose-colour, and, when not extended, are 

 curled in a beautiful spiral, like a Helix.'* — " My two specimens,'* 

 says Mr. A. Hancock, "were taken under a stone between tide- 

 marks at Cullercoats in September 1850. I kept them a little while 

 alive. They were very beautiful creatures, and had a habit of curl- 

 ing their rosy tentacular filaments into regular compact spirals ; and 

 these they frequently clustered over the body so as almost to conceal 

 it. At other times the filaments were thrown out perfectly straight, 

 and extended even further than represented in the drawing ; but on 

 the least annoyance they were again gracefully coiled up, one after 

 the other, and drawn close in to the body." — "When in repose," 

 writes Mr. Dyster, " the superior tentacula-like cirri are curled 

 closely at their extremities, and occasionally the creature rolls itself 

 up in a ball with the ventral surface exposed, and the cirri totally 

 contracted or rather contorted." 



There are really four eyes, two on each side of the head, but the 



o 2 



