296 APPENDIX. 



narrow annulations. There is, in some specimens, a faint white line 

 on each side, and a third on the back ; but these are not constant, 

 nor do they extend far down the body. The head appears to be 

 partially retractile within the part below it.* The body is firmer and 

 less fragile than Lineus lonffissimusy and less glutinous. 



Lineus fasciatus (page 26). 



Body linear-elongate, nearly cylindrical, often appearing as if it 

 had been twisted, alike on both surfaces, smooth and glutinous, 

 blackish-brown inclining to wood-brown posteriorly, lineated with 

 several paler, parallel, narrow fasciae ; the number varying from five 

 to seven. Head ophiocephalous, defined behind by the lateral fissures, 

 which are very distinct, longer than broad, the front emarginate, with 

 a white border continued backwards on a line above and parallel 

 with the fissures. Intestine white or very pale rose-tinted. Length 

 1-2'; breadth 1-li'". (v. v.) 



Hab. The coralline region. Berwick Bay, April 18, 1855. 



Lineus viridis (page 27). 



" The head is distinguished by a groove, as that of the Gordius 

 maximus {Lineus longissimus)^ and, like it, the mouth is a longitu- 

 dinal slit in the under surface of the anterior end. Colour universally 

 green ; darker on the upper surface, paler below." — Balyell. 



Feeds voraciously on mussel. Spawns principally in spring ; the 

 spawn in the form of gelatinous ropes of about 2 inches in length, 

 and about a line in diameter. 



Meckelia annulata (page 27). 



Meckelia annulata has, among worms, considerable pretensions to 

 superior beauty. It is of a hyacinth-red colour, marked with three 

 very distinct, pure white, longitudinal lines, one running down the 

 middle and one along each side, and crossed with numerous lines 

 of the same colour which encircle the body and mark the number 

 of its segments. Besides these more obvious lines, a fainter one is 

 usually observable across the middle of the segments ; and the greater 

 portion of the worm is speckled on the sides with white dots, too 

 small to be seen unless with a magnifier. The ventral surface is of 

 the same red colour as the dorsal, but wants the white line down the 

 middle. The body is soft, vermiform, flattened, gradually narrowed, 

 posteriorly distinctly annulose, about a foot in length, and one-eighth 

 of an inch in breadth, when at rest ; but capable of being drawn out 

 to three times this length, when, of course, it becomes proportionally 

 attenuated. It has neither tentacula nor bristles, nor feet of any 

 sort ; neither could I perceive pores in the margins or ventral sur- 

 face. The head is formed of two segments which are shorter than 

 the others; and the anterior is marked with a white band, and 



