On a IlermayJirodite Specimen 0/ Ampliioxus. 613 



LXXIII. — On a Hermaphrodite Specimen 0/ Ampliioxus. 

 By W. lilDDELL, M.A. 



IIkrmaphroditism in Amphioxus appears to liave been noted 

 previously on three occasions only. Langerhans *, in 1876, 

 recorded the presence of both ova and spermatozoa in all the 

 gonads of a young individual; nothing quite comparable lias 

 been observed since. In 1912 Goodrich f gave a description 

 of a specimen from Naples, in which one j)Ouch on the left 

 side contained ova, the remainJer being tilled with sperm. 

 In 1914 Orton J described a similar specimen from Plymouth, 

 again with one pouch on the left side containing ova. 

 Goodrich does not seem to have made any histological 

 examination of the gonads. Orion says that he examined a 

 series of sections through the whole region. As he records 

 no jjppearance of ova in any but the one pouch, it is to be 

 presumed that the other gonads were normal. 



The condition shown in the present example is much 

 more complicated, but the material is unfortunately very 

 scanty. Among a number of slides procured a short time 

 ago troni Messrs. Flatters and Garnett ot Manchester for the 

 Zoological Department of Queen's University, Belfast, was 

 one which contained a series of sections of Arnpliioxus. 

 Kxamination of this slide showed that one section exhibited 

 both ovary and testis. I at once wrote to the makers for 

 any information they could give concerning the specimen 

 from which these section were made. Unhappily tiiere was 

 little to be learned. The}' stated that the specimen was 

 probaljly one obtained from Naples ten or fifteen years ago ; 

 as the slides made from it differed somewhat from their usual 

 type-series, they have only recently been sent out. No 

 further information is available. I was able, however, to 

 obtain from them sixteen other slides from this specimen. 

 Thus this account is based on the examination of thirty-four 

 sections from different regions, all showing hemiaphroditism 

 more or less marked. It is extremely unfortunate that more 

 material is not available. The condition is more complicated 

 than in those specimens described by Goodrich and Orton ; 

 but, though the sections are from difi'erent areas, it is im- 

 possible to say exactly what portions of the genital tract are 

 covered by them. As siiown by the size of the liver, they 

 fall into two groups, one more anterior than the other ; the 



* Arcliiv f. niikr. Anat. xii. 1870, p. 334. 



t Aualom. Auz. xlii. (1912). 



\ Jonrn. Mar. iJiol. Assoc, x. 3 (I'JU). 



