202 SYLLIS COLLINGSIL 



Malmgren's figure 1 the dorsal cirrus is furnished with double the number of segments, 

 and the bristles are not characterized by the minutely bidentate apex ; moreover, only a 

 profile or linear view of the elongated kind is given. It is not always easy to make out 

 the bidentate condition of the bristles, and there can be little doubt that the structure of 

 the bristles, especially in the earlier papers, was imperfectly known. Indeed, it requires 

 special care to observe that the bifid condition is simply due to the well-developed nature 

 of the last spine of the row along the edge of the terminal blade. The condition is less 

 distinct, for instance, than that shown in the figure of Marenzeller. 



The Norwegian examples collected by Canon Norman are smaller than those pro- 

 cured by the ' Porcupine,' and the characters of the bristles more minute. 



This species has certain relationships with Syllis prolifera, Krohn (S. lussinensis, 

 G-rube, and 8. Armandi, Claparede). The presence of the simple bristle in the anterior 

 (twenty-one) segments of Krohn's species, however, differentiates it, but further 

 investigation may clear up doubts. 



There seems to be variety as to the number of segments in the dorsal cirri. 



De Quatrefages (1865) constituted a genus Mlersia for the Syllis sexoculata of 

 Ehlers from Martin sica, which has six eyes, three tentacles, and four tentacular cirri, with 

 long articulated dorsal cirri, and which may fairly be included under Rathke's species. 



Giard (1890) is of opinion that the Typosyllis altemosetosa of De St. Joseph, is a 

 variety of this form. 



De St. Joseph (1906) is inclined to consider the Syllis sexoculata of Ehlers as this 

 form, and there is much to be said in favour of such a view. 



8 a. Syllis coenuta (?) var. Collingsii. 2 



Habitat — Caught in the surface tow-net off the Island of Sark, July, 1869, by 

 Mrs. Collings, of Sark. 



Head with the general aspect of Syllis cormda ; eyes comparatively small, arranged 

 in a semicircle, that is, the anterior and larger pair lying obliquely to the exterior of the 

 posterior. In an example two small posterior eyes were present on one side. The 

 tentacles and tentacular cirri are moniliform, but shorter than in S. armillaris. 



Body little tapered anteriorly, more so posteriorly, where it terminates in two short 

 cirri, which are larger than those adjacent, and of nine or ten segments. The longest 

 dorsal cirri are in front. 



The foot (Plate LXX, fig. 16) presents dorsally a moniliform tapering cirrus, which 

 according to its position has its segments ranging from ten to twenty. The setigerous lobe 

 forms an elongated cone with a bevelled tip, the two spines passing to the upper border. 

 The bristles (Plate LXXIX, fig. 10) have slender shafts, curved, dilated, and bevelled at 

 the tip, while the terminal piece is comparatively long and has a minutely bifid tip and 

 the edge finely spinous. The ventral cirrus is lanceolate and elongate, with a slight 

 swelling above its base. 



1 < Annul. Polych./ p. 43, Taf. viii, fig. 45 c. 



2 Named after Mrs. Collings, of Sark, the kind friend of every zoologist landing on the island. 



