Twenty -four more Neiv Species of Rotifera. By P. H. Gosse. 863 



instiuit a pair of auricles. There is a distinct tuberculous tail. The 

 whole animal is tinged with pale-yellow. I have seen two examples in 

 TJtricularia from a lough near Carrick-on-Shannon, (Fig, 3.) 



4. Proales corynegier. Body nearly c} lindrical, rounded in front and 

 rear : foot stout, apparently one-jointed ; toes two, furcate, rod-shaped, 

 thick at base, tapering to an obtuse point, very slightly recurved, half as 

 long as body-and-head. Length 1/130 in. Lacustrine. 



'J'his obscure form I cannot, on the evidence of a single specimen, 

 identify with any species known to me ; though I own it presents little 

 distinctive character. Its long, thick, club-shaped toes form its most 

 obvious distinction : these are usually carried wide apart. The figure 

 suggests Biaschiza ; but I could not detect any dorsal fissure, and the 

 soft skin seems destitute of a lorica. There is a minute red eye in the 

 occiput. In swimming it is rapid, smoothly gliding ; darting to and fro, 

 without any appreciable aim. It, like the following, occurred in the 

 swift mill-stream of Kingskerswell. (Fig. 4.) 



5. Furcularia lactistes. Back much arched, soft and plump, 

 smooth, round : foot stout ; toes long, slender, acute, decurved ; foot and 

 toes together equal in length to the trunk : a short pointed tail. Length 

 1/175 in. Lacustrine. 



It possesses much elegance of form, and a most restless activity, 

 every instant retrojecting the long foot and toes, with the action of a 

 kicking horse, very forcibly and pertinaciously. It has one very curious 

 habit : it constantly insinuates itself between two stalks of conferva, 

 where it immediately begins to make itself a cell (only just large enough 

 to hold it) by incessantly turning head over heels. As soon as it has 

 got its place, it bends the front down to the belly, and begins to roll 

 round and round, without a moment's cessation, for hours. If forced out, 

 it at once begins the same process somewhere else. The habit, which is 

 not that of an individual, but is characteristic of the species, may be 

 compared with the tube-making propensity of F. forjicula (See H. and 

 G. Kotif. ii. 40, 41). In other respects it has the manners of its genus; 

 as in its sudden and rapid motions, its volutions, and its swift shooting 

 way of swimming. The incus-fulcrum appeared to be a massive pillar, 

 with long, slender, divergent, arching rami : the mallei evanescent. 



I met with several examples of this interesting species, inhabiting 

 floating tufts of a floccose conferva, that waved in a rapid rivulet in the 

 village of Kingskerswell. And, a few weeks later, two more occurred in 

 water from Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland. These had the same form, 

 and identically the same habits, as the Devonshire specimens. And, 

 more recently, I have detected the species in other waters. (Fig. 5.) 



6. Furcularia molaris. Body ovate, with a thick truncate head, 

 and suddenly diminishing to a long foot, terminated by two blade-shaped, 

 straight, acute toes : back elevated ; belly straight. Length 1/240 in. 

 Lacustrine. 



A single round eye, well-defined, of ruby brilliance, near the frontal 

 part of a clear saccate brain, marks this rather insignificant species. 

 The trophi are nearly as in F. lactistes just described ; but the 

 mallei are more developed. An ample alimentary canal, undivided, 

 nearly fills the trunk ; and a clear ovary crosses it obliquely, having in 



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