THE AMERICAN 



MONTHLY 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



Vol. VI. 



Washington, D. C, July, 1885. 



No. 7. 



OpoiTiilaria Constricta, n. sp. 



BY D. S. KELLICOTT. 



In November hist, I found, among 

 some Utricnlaria vulgaris and 

 Chara coronata collected from a 

 ditch filled with rather pure water, 

 an aquatic, lepidopterous larva. It 

 inhabited a free case similar to that 

 ofa phrvganeid larva, and constructed, 

 likewise, of silk holding together 

 fragments of Lemna^ etc. ; probably 

 it is the preparatory stage of a species 

 of Cataclysta. On nearly all the 

 caterpillars examined there occurred 

 an interesting, commensal vorticellid 

 abounding on the sides of the thoracic 

 rings. I have said that it is an inter- 

 esting form, a remark which it is safe 

 to make concerning any 

 infusorian, but this one, 

 an opercularian, is espe- 

 cially interesting, both 

 from the fact of its com- 

 mensalism on a case-bear- 

 ing larva, and from cer- 

 tain striking individual 

 characteristics, which in- 

 dicate that it is specifi- 

 cally distinct, and which 

 render it easy of recogni- 

 tion. In allusion to one 

 of its distinctive features it may ap, 

 propriately be called Opercularia 

 constricta. 



The body is elongate, somewhat 

 fusiform, and twice constricted below 

 the peristome, plastic, the cuticular 

 surface smooth, except the attenuate 

 posterior fourth, which is longitudi- 

 nally striate. On contraction the 

 zooid becomes pyriform, when the 

 striated portion is transversely wrin- 



FiG. 19. — Oper- 

 cularia Con- 

 stricta. 



kled. The endoplasm contains many 

 coarse granules. 



The ciliary disc is comparatively 

 wide and dome-like ; its margin is 

 cord-like, with a double row of cilia, 

 one above and one below the mar- 

 ginal ring. The membraneous collar 

 is elevated considerably above the 

 border of the peristome. The capa- 

 cious vestibulum extends first back- 

 ward and is then bent downwards. 

 The contractile vacuole is situated 

 at the angle of the oesophagus, oppo- 

 site or just below the second or lower 

 constriction of the body. 



The pedicel is short, more or less 

 bent, and bears few zooids — two or 

 four are usual numbers. 



Length of zooid .^\^ of an inch ; 

 width about one-third the length. On 

 aquatic, case-bearing, lepidopterous 

 larva, Squaw Island, Niagara river. 



o 



Notices of New Fresh- Water Infu- 

 soria. — III. 



BY DR. AI.FRED C. STOKES. 



Actifiomonas verndlis, sp. nov. 



(Fig- !•) 



Body subspherical, the frontal bor- 

 der slightly emarginate, somewhat 

 changeable in shape, free-swimming 

 or temporarily attached by a short 

 pedicel ; flagellum entirely vibratile, 

 equalling or somewhat exceeding the 

 diameter of the body in length ; en- 

 doplasm transparent, slightly granu- 

 lar ; pseudopodia few in number, 

 radiating from any part of the pe- 

 riphery, simple or variously branched, 

 often capitate, sometimes curved, 

 their length exceeding the diameter 

 of the body ; contractile vesicles sev- 



