Gatty Marine Laboratory ^ St. Andrews. 257 



It is curious that so conspicuous a form as Nereis virens, 

 Sars, sliould have escaped the persevering efforts of Dr. 

 George Johnston ; yet this species is tiie giant of the family, 

 if not of the order — large sj)ecimens measuring fully 3 feet, 

 with a breadth of If in. across the body and feet. It is 

 found at various parts of the coast both east and west, often 

 in muddy sand, and very large examples are common ou the 

 beach at St. Andrews after storms in April, May, and 

 October. It is a favourite bait in line-tishing. 



The last of the British Nereids is Nereilepas fucata, 

 Savigny, a form very abundant in deep water off the eastern 

 shores, and in the stomach of the cod and haddock. It is 

 frequently commensalistic with Pagurus Bernhardus in 

 Buccinum and Fusus. 



The British Staurocephalida;, a group which Ehlers regards 

 as falling under his Eunicca prionognatha, have hitherto been 

 chiefly conspicuous by their absence from faunistic lists. One 

 species, however^ viz. Staurocephalus rubrovitiatus, Grube *, 

 was not uncommon in 1868 on the under surfaces of stones 

 near low-water mark, and under the larger stones in pools, 

 at Ilerm. Its beautiful carmine bands and graceful outlines, 

 as well as its active Hesione-Vike movements, make it a 

 striking form. Staurocephalus Kefersteint, M'Intosh f, again 

 occurred under stones near low-water mark at Lochmaddy, 

 North Uist, in 18G5, and also subsequently, in 3— i fathoms, 

 in Loch Portan, an inland sea on the same island. 



A third species was met with under stones between tide- 

 marks at St. Peter Poit, Guernsey, in July. Its pale 

 lavender colour, with a median dorsal yellow belt bounded 

 by a rod vessel on each side, the structure of its dental appa- 

 ratus, its curious strong bristles with dilated bifid tips, ai\d 

 other features at once distinguish it. Though it approaches 

 the Staurocephalus Chiojii of Claparcde it is probably 

 distinct from it. 



A fourth species procured in a trammel net off Fermain 

 Bay, Guernsey, has a head furnished with four red qvcs and 

 an elongated body, as in Staurocephalus Kefersteini, but of a 

 pale yellow hue with a white line from the middle of the 

 dorsum at the proboscis backwards, the line becoming double 

 posteriorly. In the minute structure of the feet this form 

 a[)proaches S. Kefersteini except in certain details. 



The last of the group is Ophryotrocha puerilis^ ClapaicU^, 

 a species formerly described as Staurocephalus Siberti %, and 



* Arch. f. Naturgescli. 18oo, p. 97. 



t Trans. R. S. E. xxv. pt. ii. p. 417, pi. xvi. fig. 11. 



\ Aim. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 5, xvi. p. 48:3, pi. xiii. ligs. 6-8. 



