POLYCHJ1TA BENHAM. 

 ANTARCTIC POLYCHATA. 



I have estimated from these various reports, including the present one, that 

 about 128 species of Polychaeta are known from the Antarctic seas. 



Of these the families most abundantly represented are : 



Terebellidae 25 species. 



Syllidae 21 



Phyllodocidae 18 



Aphroditidae 14 



Maldanidae 10 



Serpulidae 10 



Sabellidae 9 



Ainpharetidae 7 



Opheliidae, Typhloscolecidae, and Chlorhaemidae 6 each. 



Amphinomidae and Hesionidae 5 



Alciopidae and Ariciidae 4 



Nereidae, Eunicidae, Sphaerodoridae, and Spionidae 3 



Nephthydidae, Tomopteridae 2 



Glyceridae, Capitellidae, Scalibregmidae, Ammocharidse and Cirratulidae are each 

 represented by one species only. 



The winter quarters of the " Aurora" were in Commonwealth Bay, Adelie Land, 

 to the south of Australia; and it was here that most of the collecting was carried out. 

 A small party had been left on Macquarie Island in connection with the Meteorological 

 and Wireless Station, and during the two years spent here a number of Polychaetea 

 and Oligochaetes were gathered around the shore. 



A few worms were also obtained by trawling off Maria Island, Tasmania, under 

 the supervision of Professor T. T. Flynn, of the University of Tasmania, who had accom- 

 panied the " Aurora" on one of her trips to the Macquaries. 



