On thf EA-wnrm in Poper-hanaersi' Paste. 297 



genus, and may be distinyuislicd from the above species by 

 the followini; charactors : — Tail a little lonrrcr than head and 

 trunk together ; snout pointed ; npper jaw projecting beyond 

 the lower ; anal fin with 26 or 27 spines ; 10 to 20 round 

 white sj)o(s aloi\g the middle of the sido ; some wliite dots on 

 the back behind tlie head ; awiiite line across occiput ; dorsal 

 fin with a dark edge. There are three specimens of this 

 species in the British Museum collection, 1^40-580 mm. in 

 total length, from Tobago and the Gulf of Mexico. 



Jordan and P^vermann, in their revision of the fishes of 

 North and ]\liddle America*, give Mnnenopxis, Kaup, with 

 ocpUatufi as the type, as a synonym of Op/ncht/n/s. On 

 looking into the matter, it appears that Kaup had no intention 

 of making 0. ocellatus the type of a new genus ; he was 

 listing three species of Lesueur's genus Murrenop'iis, and by 

 a slip or a misprint this name appeared as Munenopsis. 



XXXIX. — The Kel-icorm in Paper-hangers' Paste [An- 

 guillula r^diviva {Linnaeus, 1767), Stiles and Ilassalf, 

 1905]. By T. Goodey, D.Sc.f 



Introduction. 



The eel-worms of vinegar and sour paste have an almost 

 classic interest attacliing to them, in view of the fact that tlie 

 early microscopists studietl them so frequently and devoted a 

 considerable amount of space in their writings to descriptions 

 of tliera and to the methods by which they could be reared. 

 These organisms are not very frequently met with nowadays, 

 and I was therefore much interested when Dr. W. A. 

 Cunnington, of St. Bartholomew's Medical School, brought 

 into this department a few months ago a small cpiantity of 

 paper-hangers' paste which had a pleasantly sour odour and 

 was literally alive with eel-worms. I had never seen these 

 creatures before, and, as they were present in abundance, a 

 suitable opportunity was afforded for a study of them. 



After a few preliminary observations, T made an attempt 

 to identify the worms, and it was then I found a good deal 

 of confusion among the syslematists as to the identity of the 

 paste eel-worm — some considered it as one and the same as 



• null. f'.S. Nat. Mns. xlvii. 1896, p. 381. 



t From the Ilelmiiithologicjil Department, London School of Tropical 

 Medicine. 



Ann. d; Ma<j. N. Hist. Ser. 9. Vol. x. 20 



