ETEONE PICTA. 101 



posterior third of the head. Four short tentacles are attached anteriorly, and two 

 tentacular cirri spring from the peristomial segment — one laterally and one dorsally. 

 They are subulate and short, less than the transverse diameter of the head (in preserva- 

 tion). 



Body from 1 to 3 inches in length, firm, flattened, though more convex dorsally, 

 gently dilating behind the head, and again diminishing, but not much, towards the tail, 

 where it terminates in two ovoid yellowish cirri. The ventral surface has a median 

 furrow. The colour is pale yellowish, especially towards the posterior area of the 

 intestinal tract. Each segment has a reddish or madder-brown spot laterally opposite the 

 foot, and two others on each side of the middle line. Thus there are four rows, besides 

 those made by the spots on the dorsal lamellae. A patch of yellowish pigment occurs 

 between the foregoing transverse groups of spots in the anterior third of the body. In 

 some specimens the spots are of a deep rose-red, which, with the general iridescence of the 

 surface, gives a striking aspect. The posterior third occasionally is pinkish, apparently 

 from the ova. The under surface is pale. 



The foot (Plate LXIX, figs. 3 [twelfth] and 4 [thirtieth]) has dorsally a broadly 

 lanceolate or somewhat conical cirrus, which stands stiffly outward with a slight slope 

 backward. It is firmly fixed to a prominent papilla by almost the whole breadth of its 

 base and is not easily detached. Both papillae and lamellae increase in size from before 

 backward, the difference between the tenth and the fiftieth foot, for instance, being 

 marked. The hypodermic streaks form a fan-like arrangement from the central basal 

 region. The setigerous process is bifid, comparatively short, and bears a series of stout, 

 slightly curved bristles (Plate LXXVII, fig. 22), that is, the bristles are curved, when 

 viewed laterally, straight when viewed antero-posteriorly. The distal end of the shaft is 

 dilated, and antero-posteriorly presents two curved hook-like spines of large size, while 

 laterally it shows a median and a smaller curved spine in front and behind. The terminal 

 blade is comparatively short, broad at the base, and rapidly tapers to a fine point. It 

 is minutely serrated on the anterior edge, the points being directed distally. 



The inferior cirrus is bluntly lanceolate, extending at the tenth foot almost to the 

 tip of the setigerous process, but at the fiftieth shrinking within it in lateral view. It is 

 borne on a distinct basal process which projects from the setigerous lobe of the foot. 



Reproduction. — Some of the examples obtained between tide-marks at Guernsey 

 and Herm in July and August contained masses of minute eggs, but no ripe form was 

 seen. 



Habits. — They are very restless Annelids, darting through the water by spasmodic 

 coiling of the body as in other forms, and partial to boring in sand. They often coil 

 themselves into a ball, the posterior end being rolled concentrically. Consequently, most 

 of the examples killed in spirit are coiled or twisted in a characteristic manner. 



The Meone fucata of M. Sars 1 approaches this form very closely, though he mentions 

 only three purplish spots on the dorsum — a lateral and two median. The shortness of 

 the upper tentacular cirrus, however, may be diagnostic of the Norwegian form. 



(Ersted's ffleone maculata? is another closely allied form. 



1 c Bidrag. Christ. Fauna/ iii, p. 26, 1873. 



2 'Annul. Dan. Consp./ p. 29. 



