ROTIFERS. 215 



There is another species of Limnias also quite com- 

 mon in the writer's locality, which differs from Limnias 

 ceratophylli in having the sheath apparently formed of 

 narrow rings, so that the edges, as seen under the mi- 

 croscope, seem finely waved or scalloped. By this it 

 can be easily distinguished from the above. It is named 

 Limnias annuldta. 



1. MEQALOTBOCHA (Fig. 147). 



The clusters formed by Megalotrocha are sometimes 

 so large that they are visible to the naked eye as whitish 

 bodies clinging to Myriophyllum, which it seems to pre- 

 fer. With a pocket-lens the individual Roti- 

 fers may be seen rising and bobbing as they 

 expand or contract, but a low power of the 

 compound microscope is needed to appreciate 

 their beauty. The expanded body is rather 

 trumpet - shaped, very soft and flexible, and 

 when young is colorless. As it grows old it 

 becomes slightly yellowish. The eggs are FI&UT. 



Megalotrocha. 



often to be noticed adhering to the lower 

 part of the parent. "When the young one is hatched 

 it either remains in the old colony or it leaves and 

 founds ,a new cluster, so that in favorite localities col- 

 onies of almost any number of members may be ob- 

 tained. The Eotifers of old colonies are often infested 

 by an Infusorial parasite, which runs over the surface 

 and apparently feeds on the mucous matters secreted 

 by the Rotifers' skin. It is called Chilodon megalo- 



