Gatly Marine Laboratory ^ St. Andrews. 17-5 



3. On the Spionidse dredged by H.M.S. 'Porcupine^ in 

 1869 and 1870. 



Besides the widely distributed Scoiecolepis cirrata of Sars, 

 east of Ca])e de Gatte, in 16 to 60 fathomSj a form apparently 

 falling under the genus Nermides of Mesnil, and which may 

 be termed N. lamellata, was dredged in the expedition of 

 1870 in Tangiers Bay at a dejith of 35 fathoms. Only the 

 anterior region is present. The head (PI. V. fig. 7) forms 

 an even transverse margin in front, with a short blunt ten- 

 tacle at each angle^ and from the centre a short elevated 

 region proceeds backward, to end in a small process which is 

 pointed posteriorly like an adherent tentacle. Minute eyes 

 seem to be present on each side of the latter, but the con- 

 dition of the specimen renders accurate determination difficult. 

 The whole region is thus unusually short, and the proboscis 

 is thrust out as a short cylinder with a crenate margin. The 

 body is flattened, slightly and abruptly tapered anteriorly, 

 and with a median band ventrally. The segments are narrow 

 and numerous. The 1st foot carries a subulate branchiaand 

 a large lanceolate lamella projecting freely upward nearly as 

 far as the branchia. The dorsal bristles are very slender, 

 long, and finely tapered, and they have the normal position 

 characteristic of the family. The ventral division also has a 

 lanceolate process, and the bristles are long and slender. 

 From the form of the body the bristles and lamellae occupy 

 the dorso-lateral edge, so that the branchiae, which readily 

 fall off, pass transversely inviard over the flattened dorsum. 

 At the 10th foot the branchia is well developed, though still 

 subulate, and the dorsal lamella forms a large lanceolate flap 

 directed upward and inward. The bristles (PI. VI. figs. 1 & 2), 

 both dorsal and ventral, are long and slender in mass, and 

 have a dull golden colour. The ventral lamella is now a 

 broad, almost semicircular flap, with a tendency to a peak 

 inferiorly. The bristles (PI. YI. fig. 3) are in two groups, 

 viz. finely tapered forms which stretch outward along the 

 lamella, and a ventral series of shorter, broader bristles over- 

 lapping the former, like those seen in a Scolecolepis from 

 Bressay Sound ; but their tips are acute, not probe-pointed. 

 The branchia remains subulate at the 25th foot (PI. VI. 

 fig. 4) and stretches beyond the elongated upper lamella, 

 which is acutely lanceolate superiorly', its outer edge being 

 comparatively even till it curves inward inferiorly. The 

 ventral lamella forms a blunt flap with the bristles in the 

 groups formerly indicated. The branchia is still rather long 



