WORMS. 



227 



tinated sand, rather avoiding muddy bottoms. It loves quiet, and often seeks a home 

 among the roots of eel grass. It is usually pale red, with bands of bright red around 

 the swollen parts of the segments, but it is most readily 

 recognized by the collar on the fifth ring and the peculiar 

 funnel appended to the tail. There still remain a host, of 

 curious genera, Sternaspis, Manayunkia, Polydora, Cirrat- 

 uluSi Capiiella, and many others, which we would fain de- 

 scribe, were it not for the painful conviction that the general 

 reader's, interest in worms, even in those that are polychse- 

 tous, is exhaustible. We content ourselves, therefore, with 

 a trio of brief allusions; first, to the lug-worm, Arenicola 

 marina, which is eagerly sought after as bait by English 

 fishermen, who dig it from the holes it excavates in the 

 sands. On our coast it occurs north of Cape Cod, but is 

 not used in fishing. The branchiae are confined to the cen- 

 tral portion of the body, where they form on each side a 

 series of small tufts, remarkable, during the life of the crea- 

 ture for their brilliant. red color. It is a type of the family fio. m.—stemaspis fmsor. 

 closely related to the ClymeneUa, above described. The second form is the Spi- 

 rorbis, one of the Serpulidse, whose white, coiled tubes might easily be mistaken 



Fig. 222. — Serpula contortupHcata. 



for a snail shell. They occur on rocks, shells, etc., but are most numerous on bits 

 of rook-weed (JTucus) thrown up from shallow water. Each individual worm is 

 as pretty and delicate as any species of Serpula, and, like the members of that genus. 



