300 DORSIBRANCHIATA ; EUNICE, ARENICOLA, APIIRODITA. 



upon our own coasts. In the AMPHINOMID^E, the gills hare the 

 form of branching or arborescent tufts ; and these are disposed 

 along the whole of the body. They are frequently coloured very 

 brilliantly. The genus Euphrosyne has these branchial tufts very 



much developed ; and the 

 body, instead of being 

 long and narrow, has a 

 broad and oval form. 

 The Aphrodita, the type 

 of the family APHRO- 

 DITIDJE, is an animal 

 no. G27.-EUPHBOSYNE LATTREATA. . w6 U-known on our coasts 

 under the name of " Sea Mouse ; " probably on account of the 

 large quantity of silky hairs with which it is covered. These 

 hairs are of a very brilliant metallic lustre ; and their colours 

 vary with the play of thp light ; so that this animal is scarcely 

 surpassed by any in beauty of colouring. The back is furnished 

 with two rows of large membranous scales, which somewhat 

 resemble the elytra of Insects ; these inclose the gills ; but they 

 are themselves concealed by the hairy covering just mentioned. 

 The form of the body much resembles that of the Euphrosyne 

 (Fig. 627). A large number of Aphroditre are not un frequently 

 thrown up on our coasts after a gale of wind. In many species, 

 the lateral setaa or bristles exhibit a beautiful structure, which 

 admirably fit them for weapons of defence, being barbed on each 

 side of their tips ; and each of these barbed setaa is inclosed in 

 a smooth horny sheath, composed of two blades. The ARENI- 

 COLID^E are distinguished from the other families of this Order, 

 by their having an enlarged rounded head, destitute of tentacles 

 or eyes, and by their arborescent branchiae being confined to the 

 middle part of the body. They constitute the nearest approach 

 to the succeeding Order, as, although they do not form a tube for 

 their residence, they dwell constantly in the sand, in which they 

 burrow to a depth of twelve or eighteen inches, and, like the 

 Tubicola, deposit their eggs in the midst of a small gelatinous 

 mass, which serves as a protection to the youn fc , and which is left 

 on the surface of the sand, close to the little hssps which they 

 throw up on retreating into their burrows. The common Arenicola 

 is the well-known Lob-worm of the fishermen, who use it as a bait. 



