47 il6 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



in fully grown animals the slender lower tooth is absent, as Marenzeller 

 figures it, or only slightly indicated, as Mcintosh found it. In the posterior 

 feet there are a very large bluntly rounded spine, a simple dorsal seta, and 

 a curved bifid ventral seta. The first segment is narrow, and slightly over- 

 laps the head, as was pointed out by Marion and Bobretzky. The anal cirri 

 have 20 joints, and there is a slender smooth median cirrus between them. 

 The dorsal cirri are alternately long and short. This species is very close 

 to S. varieyata Grube, but differs in the colour pattern, the structure of the 

 setae, and several other points. 



Habitat. — Clew Bay — Dredged in 24 fms. 



Distribution. — Guernsey and Herm ; Azores ; north coast of Mediterranean 

 from Port Vendres to Trieste. 



Syllis (Typosyllis) variegata Grube. 



1875. Syllis variegata. Marenzeller, p. 19. 



This species is easily recognized by the characteristic colouring on the 

 dorsum of the anterior segments. The colour tends to fade in preserved 

 specimens. It is very closely allied to Syllis prolifera, but not identical with 

 it, as Mcintosh seems to think (1908, p. 161). The chief differences are — 

 (1) the colour pattern is quite different; (2) the tips of the setae are not so 

 boldly bifid, and the edge is more serrate ; (3) the spines in the posterior feet 

 are very thick, and bluntly pointed, especially in small or young specimens. 



The dorsal cirri are alternately long and short. In the posterior 20 feet 

 there is a simple dorsal seta which is slightly bifid, and hispid near the tip. 

 This is joined in the last 12 segments by a smooth boldly bifid simple 

 ventral seta. 



A female pelagic bud of this species was taken in the tow-net, in mid- 

 water, in October. It is of the " Chaetosyllis" type. The head is small, with 

 a pair of short, smooth tentacles, and there are no eyes. The 1st segment is 

 normal. The 2nd to the 27th segments are provided with tufts of long 

 swimming setae. There are 35 setigerous segments altogether. The 

 ventral cirrus is very much elongated, especially in the posterior segments, 

 the spine is extremely large, and the dorsal cirri are less distinctly articulated 

 than in the asexual stock. The body is full of eggs, except in the 1st and 

 posterior 8 segments. 



Habitat. — Clew Bay — Dredged on two occasions, in 13-24 fms. 1| mile 

 off Cleggan Head, in the middle tow-net at 7 fms., a female 

 bud. 



Distribution. — English Channel; France; Madeira; Azores; Mediter- 

 ranean ; Pied Sea. 



