N0VEM1JER:14. igO/J 



NA TURE 



in regard to which Dr. \V. E. Hoyle communicates 

 some notes furnished by Dr. G. Pfeffer. There were 

 also some mandibles, obtained from the stomachs ot 

 seals and penguins. Mr. Edgar A. Smith finds 

 twenty-one new species of gastropods in a collection 

 of twenty-six. The most striking forms are Trophon 

 loiigstafji, and a new genus, Trichoconcha, which has 

 a flexible tough shell, like a chestnut skin, and a 

 beautiful hairy periostracum. The collection does not 

 show any particular resemblance to the Arctic fauna, 

 most of the genera having a world-wide distribution. 

 The almost total absence of colour in nearly every 

 instance is characteristic. Mr. Smith also describes 

 a very remarkable Chiton {Chaetopleiira miranda, 

 n.sp.), simultaneously reported by Dr. J. Thiele (Noto- 

 irliiton mirandus, n.g. et sp.) from Bouvet Island — an 

 instance of wide distribution. The third and seventh 

 valves are stained red, the rest being dirty-whitish. 

 In the collection of fourteen species of lamellibranchs, 

 Mr. Smith found ten that are new, e.g. a beautifully 

 sculptured Lima (Limatida hodgsoni). 



Sir Charles Eliot describes five species of pteropods, 

 and points out at once the distinctness and the re- 

 latedness of the northern and .southern species of 

 Limacina and Clione. It may be that some once cos- 

 mopolitan species have undergone similar but not 

 identical changes in North and South Polar waters. 

 The same authority also reports on the nudibranchs, 

 twelve in all, ten of which are new. He establishes 

 two new genera, Tritoniella and Galvinella, near Tri- 

 tonia and Galvina respectively, and comes to the con- 

 clusion that the Antarctic and Arctic nudibranchs are 

 similar rather than identical. 



As to crustaceans. Dr. W. T. Caiman describes two 

 species of decapods obtained within the Antarctic 

 Circle, viz., Choriomus aiitarcticus { = Hippolyte aiit- 

 arctica, Pfeffer) and Craiigoii antarcticiis, Pfeffer, both 

 of which were also collected by the German Polar Com- 

 mission of 18S2-3 at South Georgia. Witli the excep- 

 tion of the very imperfectly known Craugon capensis, 

 Stimpson, C. antarcticiis is the only southern species 

 of the genus, and is widely separated from all the 

 other species, which are confined to the temperate and 

 (if Sclerocrangon be included) Arctic regions of the 

 Atlantic and Pacific. 



No Cumacea have previously been obtained from 

 within the Antarctic Circle, but the Discovery collected 

 four spucies, which Dr. Caiman describes. Three are 

 new, and the fourth is a variety of Campylaspis verru- 

 cosa, known from the north Atlantic and the Mediter- 

 ranean, though probably with a much wider range. 



Mr. A. O. Walker reports on fifty-three species of 

 amphipods (eighteen new) in forty-three genera (four 

 new). As in the Arctic regions, the Lysianassidae pre- 

 ponderate. It was quite the usual thing to take ten 

 to thirty thousand specimens of Orchomenopsis rossi 

 in a single haul. Some of the forms have a wide dis- 

 tribution; thus Ampelisca inacrocephala is an abun- 

 dant Arctic species, and the ascidiicolous Leucothoe 

 spiiiicarpa appears to be ubiquitous (the Discovery's 

 winter quarters, Ceylon, Maldives, and our own seas). 

 Among the peculiar forms we may notice Thauma- 

 Iclsoit herdrnani, the only known amphipod with its 

 lelson in the vertical plane, Epimeria macrodonta with 

 long curved and sharp teeth on the body segments, 

 and Ipliimedia hodgsoni, so densely clothed with fine 

 opines directed backwards that it has a shaggy 

 appearance. 



Dr. Johannes Thiele finds that the only leptostracan 

 collected was Nebalia longicoruis magellanica; Prof. 

 G. Stewardson Brady reports on nine species of 

 ostracods, of which seven are new, including a new 

 cytherid genus Linocheles ; Dr. A. Gruvel briefly dis- 

 cusses four cirripedcs, including two new species of 

 Scalpellum. 



NO. 1985, vol. 77] 



Mr. T. V. Hodgson has had an interesting task in 

 dealing with the large collection of pycnogonids, 

 which evidently have their headquarters in southern 

 seas. He describes three new genera and twenty- 

 three new species, raising the total of Antarctic forms 

 to sixty-three. The new genus Austrodecus, perhaps 

 a close relation of Tanystylum, is a curious little form 

 with a slender and elongated proboscis, like the snout 

 of a weevil beetle, no chelifori, six-jointed palps, and 

 small ovigers ; Austroraptus, another new genus, is 

 remarkable for its spurred body and the length of its 

 legs. These two genera, along with the genus 

 Leionymphon, which is re-cast, belong to the family 

 .\mmotheidse, but no true member of the genus Am- 

 mothea was found. The most interesting form is, of 

 course, Fcntanyinphon australis, which excited much 

 interest at the time, since it has an extra pair of 

 limbs. It is abundant in circumpolar waters, where 

 also the Scottish Expedition, under Dr. W. S. Bruce, 

 collected a still finer species with the same peculiarity, 

 which turned out to be Dccolopoda australis, described 

 by Eights some seventy years ago in a forgotten 

 paper. The " bipolarity theory " is affected only by 

 Colossendeis australis, for it is, among the numerous 

 species of this genus, nearest to C. proboscidea, which 

 occurs at the opposite end of the earth. We may 

 direct attention to the useful device Mr. Hodgson has 

 adopted of giving a brief resume of the most im- 

 portant specific characters at the beginning of each 

 detailed description. The author also contributes an 

 interesting essay at the beginning of the third volume 

 on collecting in Antarctic seas. Dr. E. L. Trouessart 

 describes an Antarctic variety of the Arctic species of 

 halacarid — Leptospathis alberti. The two forms 

 .hardly differ except in size and proportions, but as 

 the author believes that the species will turn out to 

 be cosmopolitan or subcosmopolitan, he does not attach 

 any importance to its bipolar distribution. As a 

 matter of fact, however, the species is not as yet 

 known except in the two polar seas. 



As to "worms," Dr. G. Herbert Fowler reports on 

 three species of Chsetognatha. He found the same 

 three and one other in an old Challenger collection. 

 He points out that Krohnia hamata ranges from 

 81° 30' N. to 77° 49' S., being cosmopolitan and fairly 

 eurythermal ; that Sagitta hexaptera is cosmopolitan 

 and pantothermal ; and that S. serrato-dentata, 

 though found in subantarctic as well as north tem- 

 perate seas, was absent at the colder stations of both 

 Discovery and Cliallenger. Dr. O. von Linstow 

 describes Leptosomatum australe, n.sp., which is the 

 largest known free nematode, the female attaining 

 a length of almost 50 mm., the male of 57-7 mm. He 

 proposes a new group, Adenophori, for the free 

 nematodes, which will not fit into the three groups 

 Secernentes, Resorbentes, and Pleuromyarii into 

 which he has disposed the parasitic forms. Mr 

 Arthur E. Shipley describes three species of Dibothrio- 

 cephalus (two new) which were found living together 

 in the stomach of Ross's seal. It is rather remark- 

 able that the only cestodes brought back by the natur- 

 alists of the Discovery were got in one rare animal, 

 and that they belong to one genus. The pleurocer- 

 coid stages may possibly be found in some cephalopod. 

 We may note the author's enthusiasm ; he speaks of 

 D. wilsoni, n.sp., as a very attractive little tapeworm 

 of few proglottides. 



Turning to Coelentera, we find, first of all, an in- 

 teresting memoir by Prof. S. J. Hickson on the 

 .\lcyonarians. He finds that Ccratoisis spicata, n.sp., 

 is a connecting link between the groups of species for- 

 merly separated into the two genera Ceratoisis and 

 Primnoisis. The latter name must now disappear. 

 .Another new discovery is Primnoella divergens, which 

 links Primnoella and Caligorgia. The collection in- 



