NEW POLYCHAETOUS ANNELIDS 

 By AARON L. TREADWELL 



Professor of Zoology, Vassar College 

 (With Two Plates) 



The polychaetous annelids obtained by the First Johnson-Smith- 

 sonian Deep-Sea Expedition have l)een submitted to me for report, 

 and in the collection T have found a number of new species, which are 

 here described and figured. 



MELAENIS Malmgren 

 MELAENIS TROPICUS, n. sp. 



Plate I, figs. 1-6 



A single specimen 33 mm long and 9 mm wide in the greatest 

 diameter. Twelve pairs of elytra completely cover the body. The 

 prostomium is about i mm in diameter and carries the cirrophores 

 of the three tentacles from which the styles have been broken. The 

 median cirrophore overlaps the lateral ones. The prostomium (fig. i) 

 is rounded in outline, its transverse diameter being a trifle greater 

 than its antero-posterior. No eyes are visible. The palps are very 

 long and not very .stout. 



The first parapodia are small and largely concealed by the bases 

 of the palps. The basal portion of each parapodium narrows distally, 

 and on its anterior border are numerous papillae (fig. 2). Terminally, 

 there is a considerable widening, the main axis continuing into a 

 fMDint, from which the acicula protrudes. On the dorso-lateral sur- 

 faces are the cirrophores for the tentacular cirri from which the styles 

 are lost. Antero-laterally there are three tufts of setae radiating in 

 fan shape in each tuft. The second parapodium is also small, its 

 notopodium (fig. 3) rather broad at the base and continuing with 

 the same diameter about half v^^ay to the apex, where it narrows 

 asymmetrically and rapidly to a sharp point. A large acicula protrudes 

 from the apex. Antero-dorsally, there is a tuft of setae. Small, 

 rounded vesicles are attached to the body wall between the two parts 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 91, No. 8 



