TARDIGRADA: AUSTRALIA 125 



named Oreella. It is essentially an Echiniscus which lacks the armature of protec- 

 tive plates, and has a soft body like Macrobiotus. 



In Queensland there was only one day available for collecting. By the advice of 

 Mr. Bailey, the veteran botanist, it was spent in the bush at the quiet little station 

 of Eumuudi, some distance north of Brisbane. The weather was very hot, and the 

 bush was very dry. The prickly wires of the Rattan, as they sawed lines in the 

 face, sometimes several at one time, were rather dangerous to the eyes, and often 

 required a pause of several minutes as they were carefully picked off, one by one, 

 before progress could be resumed. But here and there pendent pleurocarpous mosses 

 hung from the trees, and with these I filled my pockets. In some little gullies, 

 where a few pools of water indicated the existence of a stream in rainy weather, 

 there were tufts of various mosses. 



These mosses afterwards proved fairly productive, both of water-bears and 

 rotifers. The experience with these Queensland mosses illustrates how local 

 water-bears are in their distribution, and the capriciousness of the method of 

 collecting from mosses. For a long time the mosses from Queensland gave very 

 meagre results, and at last, a year after gathering, a tuft in no way different-looking 

 from the rest, produced water-bears enough to make up quite a fair list for Queens- 

 land, including two interesting new species of Echiniscus. 



Since my return to England, Mr. S. Johnston of Sydney has been good enough to 

 send me freshly gathered mosses, which have afforded an opportunity of continuing 

 the study of the Australian water-bears and other animals. 



The region examined in Australia extends over about 10 degrees of latitude, from 

 27 S. in Queensland to 37 S. on the borders of New South Wales and Victoria. 



Previous knowledge of Australian Tardigrada. There is very little known 

 of Australian water-bears. Whitelegge's "Invertebrate Fauna," 1889 (46), has no 

 reference to the group. The only record I have been able to find is in 

 Ilichters' " Moosfauna Australiens," 1908 (37), in which he mentions the ubiquitous 

 M. hufelandii as found at Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains. 



LIST OF THE SPECIES COLLECTED 



Echiniscus mutabilis, Murray. Milnesium tardiyradwm, Doyere. 



E. nwcezeelandice, Richters. Maerobiofus hufelandii, Schultze. 



E. pulcher, sp. n. M. echinogenitus, Richters. 



E. arctomys, Ehrenberg. M. areolatus, Murray. 



E. kerguelensis, Ricbters. M. harmsworthi, Murray. 



E. tessellatus, sp. n. M. hufelandioides, sp. n. 



E. intermedius, sp. n. M. occidentalis, Murray. 



E. spiniyer, Richters. M. intermedius, Plate. 



E. duboisi, Richters. M. crassidens, Murray. 



E. blumi, Richters. M. acideatus, sp. n. 



E. oihonme, Richters. M. dispar, Murray. 



Oreella inollis, gen. n., sp. n. M. arclicus, Murray. 



