ON BELMULLET WHALING STATION. 



133 



In tlial part ot the Term Nova Report^" which deals with ' Para- 

 sitic Worms,' an account is given of Crassicavda crasskauda, Leiper 

 and Atkinson, a nematode, probably a Filarian, which was recorded 

 first by Creplin from a Northern Eorqual, and was also taken by 

 Mr. D. G. Lillie from the renal tubules of Megaptera during the 

 Terra Nova Expedition. Through the kindness of Mr. Bayliss of the 

 British Museum (Natural History), I have been enabled to inspect 

 specimens of this form, and, although I was not able to make detailed 

 examination of them, it is my opinion that the nematodes taken from 

 the kidney of various species of Balssnoptera at Blacksod are veiy 

 closely allied to C. crassicauda, if they are not identical with it. 



IX. Foehises. 



(1) B. physalus. — Unfortunately no success rewai'ded my efforts to 

 obtain stages sufficiently young to be of value for embryological research. 

 The smallest fcetus which I saw was that from Whale No. 15, and is 

 1 ft. 10* in. long. This specimen has not the slightest trace of external 

 hind limbs, the flukes being well developed, and it still retains a well- 

 marked cervical flexure. 



(2) B. muscuhis and B. borealis. No fcetus of either of these species 

 was seen. 



X. Breeding Season. 



In my Report for 1913 " I suggested a method of calculating possible 

 ages of the foetuses from their size. Pursuing the same method with 

 the six specimens observed in 1914, we have the following results : 



June 



In accordance with the above-mentioned method of calculating the 

 ages of the foetuses, and in consequence the probable pairing times of 



Fia. 4. — B. physalus. 



Diagram to show frequency of occurrence of pairing 

 during the breeding season. 



B. pliysalus, I have constructed a figure showing the distribution of 

 the pairing times over those months in which it is suggested that they 

 occur. The number of cases (20) is unfortunately small, but, notwith- 

 standing this, it seems probable that the paii'ing occurs with greatest 



^^ Brit. Mus. Nat. Hist., British National Antarctic (_' Terra Nova') 

 Expedition 1910, Natural History Report, 'Zoology,' vol. ii., No. 3, p. 29. 

 " British Association Report 1914, p. 143. 



