Il8 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



tubceformis,. and some or all of the following: Amphitrite cirrata, Ch/Btinopoma green 

 landica, Cirratulus cirratus, Glycera capitata and Praxilella zonalis. 



Verrill and Smith (1873) listed 70 determined species of Annulata from specified 

 localities lying within the limits of our region, and some 5 others whose range, as stated, 

 would include Woods Hole and vicinity. Our present list thus comprises about twice as 

 many representatives of this phylum as were catalogued for the region in the "Report 

 upon the Invertebrate Animals of Vineyard Sound." More than 20 other determined 

 species, however, were recorded at that time by Verrill for adjacent portions of the Atlantic 

 coast; while in later papers he added many more to the fauna of the Woods Hole region 

 itself. Most of those species of our own list which are not comprised within the various 

 papers of Verrill have been recorded upon the authority of Dr. J. P. Moore, who has 

 devoted some years to a systematic study of the Woods Hole Polychaeta. Some of 

 these, as above stated, were first taken during the survey dredging operations, while a 

 yet greater number were collected independently by Dr. Moore before the latter opera- 

 tions were commenced. It is understood that Dr. Moore has noted the occurrence of 

 a number of species which are not included in this report, but these records are unfor- 

 tunately not available at present. Except in the case of certain familiar and easily 

 determined forms, all of the annelids from the dredging collections were identified by 

 the last-named zoologist, to whom we are likewise indebted for the revision of our check 

 list of species. This authority is also responsible for the terminology adopted, though 

 not, of course, for all the statements in the text. 



Our list of Annulata considerably exceeds that given by Whiteaves for eastern 

 Canada. Of the 105 Polychaeta comprised in the latter catalogue, 29, or somewhat 

 more than one-fourth, appear to be common to the Woods Hole region. None of the 

 other groups of segmented worms have been considered by Whiteaves. 



The total number of annelids listed in the Plymouth catalogue is surprisingly near 

 to that in our own. The number of Polychaeta is somewhat greater (148) in the former; 

 the number of Oligochaeta being smaller (only 3). Of the Plymouth Annulata, 10 of the 

 Polychaeta and 1 of the Oligochaeta appear to be common to Woods Hole. 



Herdman has listed 90(4-2?) members of this phylum for the Irish Sea; while 

 Gr3effe records 142 species for the Gulf of Trieste. 



Certain defects of method must be taken into account in judging of the complete- 

 ness of our dredging records for the annelids. As is well known, a large proportion of 

 the species burrow in the sand or mud, in some cases quite deeply. When disturbed, 

 they retreat hastily from the surface. In order to obtain such forms without mutila- 

 tion, or in many cases even to obtain fragments of them, it is necessary to dig deeply 

 into the soil. Dredges such as those employed in the present work removed, at best, 

 but a few inches from the surface of the mud and sand, giving the burrowing worms an 

 ample opportunity to escape. 



An impressive instance of the incompleteness of our records for some of these bur- 

 rowing annelids is furnished by the case of Diopatra cuprea. This species, as is well 

 known, constructs a parchment-like tube, extending down some feet into the ground. 

 The terminal, exposed portion of the tube is reinforced by any small bits of solid matter 

 which happen to be at hand, e. g., pebbles, shell fragments, or bits of eel grass. By the 

 exercise of considerable care the living worm may be dug up in shallow water. But 



a These species were all dredged during the course of the survey. Whether or not they had previonsly been collected inde- 

 pendently by Dr. Moore is not known. 



