15° 



THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



proboscis, which projects from the front end of the body, and 

 is used both as an organ of locomotion and for the purpose 



of detecting and securing prey. A 

 groove runs along its under surface, 

 and at the back end of this the mouth is 

 situated. One example must suffice, the 

 Green Bonellia [Bonellia viridis) (fig. 408), 

 which has been the subject of very careful 

 observation in the aquarium of the Zoolo- 

 gical Station at Naples. The female has 

 a fat green body some 2 inches long, and 

 provided with a very long proboscis, forked 

 at the end, and several inches in length 

 even when in a quiescent state. The 

 animal lurks in a rock-crevice or under 

 a stone, and stretches out its proboscis in 

 all directions in search of food, attaining 

 in extreme extension the almost incredible 

 length of nearly 5 feet, when it looks like 

 a slender green thread. Should the forked 

 end of this organ come into contact with 

 the soft body of a small ascidian or other suitable prey, this is torn 

 from its attachment and passed down the groove to the mouth. 



Fig. 408. — Green Bonellia {Bonellia 

 viridis). Female on left, male (much 

 enlarged) on right. 



