

294 Miscellaneous. 



One of them is much longer than the others ; and it is this that we 

 see in the groove in the attached animal ; but .in this ease it is re- 

 curved and directed backwards, whereas in the free Infusorian it is 

 directed forward. The other two flagella are not seen in the state 

 of repose, and are probably concealed in the groove. These Infu- 

 sorians die very speedily if not kept in fresh water. They resemble 

 the animals which Stein has figured under the name of Bodo caw- 

 datas (Amphimonas caudata, Duj.^ ^nd which he often saw attached 

 to larger Infusorians. But Stein's Bodo has only two flagella 

 instead of three, although he may have missed the third, which is 

 very slender. Moreover the genus Bodo is not well known, and 

 Saville Kent places in it Flagellata belonging to the family Cerco- 

 monadina, characterized by having only a single flagellum and a 

 non-retractile caudal filament. To Stein's Bodo he gives the name 

 of JJiplomasticr can data. 



If the parasite of the trout does not form a new genus, and may 

 be referred to Bodo, it is certainly a new species, which may be 

 named Bodo necator. That the Infusorian caused the malady was 

 proved by placing healthy fishes in company with diseased ones ; 

 in a few days all the little fishes were dead and all covered with the 

 parasites. The action on the skin is shown by the changed condi- 

 tion of the epidermic cells ; and some of the parasites attach them- 

 selves to the gills, producing ha)rnatosis. Flagellate Infusoria which 

 live as parasites in the interior of other animals have long been 

 known (Cercomonas intestiaalis, Trichomonas vaginalis*, Ilexamita, 

 Lophiomonas, &c.) ; but hitherto no ectoparasitic Flagellata have 

 been described. — Comptes liendus, March 5, 1883, p. 058. 



On Eudiocrinus from the Atlantic, and on the Nature of the Fauna 



of Great Depths. By M. E. P eerier. 



According to Mr. Herbert Carpenter, the 'Challenger' and 



' Blake ' expeditions will carry the number of species of Comafculidse 

 to about 400. The family is so homogeneous that nearly all the 

 species belong to two genera, Antedon and Acthiometra. Three 

 other genera complete the family ; and of these two, Promachocrinus 

 and Atelecrinus, include only three species each ; and the third, 

 Eudiocrinus (Ophiocrinus, Semper), has only four, all from the 

 Pacific. The ' Travailleur's ' dredgings add a fifth species from the 

 Atlantic, named by the author Eudiocrinus atlanticns; it was 

 dredged in the Bay of Biscay on August 16, 1882, from a depth of 

 896 metres. 



The Eudiocrini differ from the other Comatulae in having only 

 five instead of ten arms. In E. atlanticns the arms are much 

 elongated, taper very gradually, and bear long slender pinnules, upon 

 which, as usual, the genital glands are developed. The first syzygy 

 occurs between the fourth and fifth pieces of the arms ; and the fifth 

 bears the first pinnule : the former character distinguishes R atlan- 

 ticns from E. indwisus, Hemp.; the latter from the other three 





