1-901.] ANi> VUL'.NK of V l'OIACll.l- L'E WORM. 7 to 



In the month of May, 1899, I spent a fortnight at Kan- 

 kesanturai, a small native town situated on the north coast live or 

 six miles west of Tondimanar. From here it was easy to reach 

 the lagoon at its southward entrance, and I naturally made 

 excursions thither, exploring the shallow waters on a native raft 

 or catamaran. Punting along in one of these, with the midday 

 sun blazing overhead and the wafer swirling up, hoi and salt and 

 stinging to the ankles, between the logs of the raft, my attention 

 was caught by large numbers of little pear-shaped masses of jelly, 

 attached to the bottom by their narrow ends and swinging to and 

 fro with the movements of the water. The native fishermen told 

 me that these were " the eggs of prawns,"' indicating a species of 

 P, mil's which is common in the sea near the mouth of the lagoon, 

 and enters the latter at high tide, and of course no subsequent 

 demonstration was of the least avail to shake this belief, which is 

 entirely erroneous. Digging in the sandy bottom reveals the fact 

 that the objects in question are spawn-masses of a polychaete worm 

 of the genus Marphysa 1 , which lies in its burrow - in the sand 

 head downwards and sets free its eggs. These, with the jelly in 

 which they are imbedded, pass upwards and form the pear-shaped 

 mass. 



The fully -formed spawn-mass (PI. XXXJX. tig. 1) is about 

 four inches in length, of which more than one inch is due to the 

 stalk. It consists of a colourless translucent mucus, in which 

 are imbedded small yellowish egos, the whole being covered with 

 a delicate transparent pellicle. How this pellicle is formed I did 

 not discover, but would suggest that if is due to some change 

 undergone by the surface-layer of the mucus. When it is torn 

 the enclosed substance has a tendency to bulge nut. as though it 

 were under a slight tension within (PI. XXX IX. fig. 2). The end 

 of the stalk, which is inserted into, and fills, the opening of the 

 burrow, contains a blackish or greenish mass of oval pellets, which 

 seem to be the dung of the worm. The mucus, which is not 

 divided into areas corresponding to the eggs, appears structureless 

 under the microscope and contains numerous Infusorians. The 

 enclosed eggs and young are in various stages, i he older ones being 

 generally on tin- outside and at the free end of the mass. 



1 Owing to an unfortunate accident oa portion of mj material on the waj 

 from Oeylon td England, only one damaged Bpecimen of this worm is in my 

 possession. Dr. A. Willej has kindrj identified his for me as a Bpecies of 

 Marphysa allied to, or identical with, .V. teretmscuUt, Schmarda. Similar 

 spawn-masses are also found in the lagoon at .MimlMiiuii the Band-flat at the 

 south end, in a spot where the conditions are not unlike those at Tondimanar 

 hi some respect* namely, in thai there i- a shallow Bheel of water, fully 

 exposed i" the Bun's rays, with a Bandy bottom and with hut a narron opening 

 I,, the gea A few Bpawn-masseB were found on a stretoh of Band just outside 



the bar of the Tondimanar lagoon, bill I did not el with them either al 



Kankesanturai or on the south coast of Oeylon, 



l hi- burrow, which extends t<> uorne distance in tin' sand, lb perfectly 

 definite hut ha- net rerj strong »all-. In it there are often n> be found, 



besides the Marphyna,H\ imena of a small Nereid dotal] allied to Utreit 



i„. ,■; ,, , ,- < (rube, I B67. 



