576 DR. W. A. CUNNINGTON ON THE 



Blancluuxl (15) describing fovms collected by Stuhlmann. It is 

 in a ineasure surpi'ising that these creatures should have escaped 

 attention, since they are neither minute nor inconspicuous. 

 During my expedition to the great lakes I was able to collect a 

 considerable number of specimens, the majority of which were 

 obtained in Tanganyika. Some examples, however, were found 

 in Victoria Nyanza (from which a rej)resentative had ali'eady 

 been recorded by Blanchard), and also in Nyasa,, where they 

 constitute a new record. With this opportunity for gaining a, 

 fuller knowledge of these forms, it is the more to be regietted 

 that no report has yet been received from the expert to whom the 

 collection was submitted for examination. 



The leech which is already known from Lake Victoiia was 

 termed Hiruclo hildehrandti by Blanchard (15, p. 5). It is not 

 confined to the lake, specimens having been collected also in 

 Mombasa. In the same paper a, new genus a,nd species belonging 

 to the family Herpobdellidte is described under the name of Salifa 

 persjncax. This form was collected by Stuhlmaim in Kiriwia, 

 which is described as north-west of Edward Nyanza. I have not 

 been able to identify this locality, but it appears doubtful whether 

 this species should be included in the fauna of this or any of the 

 lakes. 



It is hardly safe to foreshadow the results of a proper exa- 

 mination of the specimens collected by the Third Tanganyika 

 Expedition. It may nevertheless be stated that they will in a.ll 

 probability prove to belong to some five or six different species, 

 of which the greater number come from Tanganyika,. This is only 

 in accordance with what has already been observed in so many 

 animal groups. The leeches were found for the most part in 

 shallow water, under stones or on shells, but some were dredged 

 in about 10 fathoms. 



Nematoda. 



There is hardly any information available concerning the 

 Nematodes of the great lakes. In the extensive plankton 

 matei'ial collected by Fiilleborn in and around Nyasa, Daday 

 detected certain free-living forms, which he identified and de- 

 scribed. Reporting on Stuhlmann's collections, Collin records a 

 single specimen of a free-living Nematode (which he leaves 

 undetermined) from Victoria Nyanza, and also examples of a 

 well-known parasitic type — Ascm-is spiadigera — obtained from a 

 pelican on Lake Edwaid (64, p. 10). 



During my expedition to the three big lakes, I was able to 

 procure a considerable number of parasitic Nematodes from the 

 fish which passed through my hands. Whether such forms can 

 be legitimately regarded as part of the lake fa,una may be ques- 

 tioned, but as they are associated in this case with genuine 

 inhabitants of the la.kes, I am disposed to include them. Un- 

 fortunately these specimens have not been repoi-ted upon, so that 

 little can be added to this bare record of their existence. The 

 majority of them are from the body-ca,vity or gut of Tanganyik 



