THE BRISTLE-WORMS. 97 



Aphrodite has always had abundant praise lavished on its 

 beauty. Many people even go so far as to call it the most 

 beautiful of the PolychsBtes. There is certainly no doubt 

 as to the beauty of colouring, but for my own part I must 

 confess to a preference for some of the leaf-worms, which 

 present a combination of beauties of form, colour, and 

 motion which is denied to Aphrodite. 



As to the habits there is not much to be said, for the 

 worm lives in mud or sand in deep water, and is not easy 

 to keep alive. Although it might be supposed that the 

 thick coating of bristles would render it anything but a 

 pleasant mouthful, it is nevertheless greatly relished by the 

 cod and other fish, whose stomachs are sometimes filled with 

 fine specimens. 



There is another common shore worm which is related 

 both to Polynoe and Aphrodite, but differs markedly in 



FIG. 32. Sthenelais boa. After Johnston. 



appearance from both. This is the common sand Polynoid, 

 Sthenelais boa (see Fig. 32), which lives in sand or sandy 

 places. It resembles Polynoe and the sea-mouse in having 

 the dorsal surface covered with scales, but differs very 

 markedly from both in its elongated shape and numerous 

 segments. Specimens reaching a length of eight inches are 

 said to sometimes occur, but the usual length is from five to 

 six. The body is flat, narrow in proportion to its length, 

 and hardly tapers at either end, so that the worm looks as 

 if it had been abruptly truncated in front and behind. 

 Though the colours are unobtrusive quiet sandy greys or 

 browns yet the size and shape give the worm much greater 

 beauty of form than that displayed by the ordinary squat 

 Polynoids. It is common in most places where there is 



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