WORMS 177 
dinal muscles in four bands, and muscles to 
move the parapodia. Breathing is carried on 
over the whole surface of the body, and es- 
pecially in parts of the lobes of the parapodia 
called gills. Its sense-organs are eyes, palps, 
tentacles, and cirri, 
ala ty ty) 
N. virens. This species is found from New 
York northward in muddy and shelly sand, and 
under rocks between tide-marks, living in burrows, 
which it lines with a mucous secretion. It is very 
active and voracious, feeding on other worms, 
Crustacea, ete., which it captures with its horny, 
protruded jaw. At night it leaves its burrow and 
swims freely about like an eel, frequently falling 
a prey to fishes. In color it is dull bluish-green, 
with some iridescence. The gills, which are leaf- 
like appendages on the parapodia, are green on 
the anterior end of the body and become bright 
red farther back. This species, and N. branti of 
Alaska, are the giants of polychete worms, often 
measuring eighteen inches or more in length. 
N. pelagica. Found in abundance on the New England shore and 
northern coasts under stones and on shelly bot- 
toms. The female is four.to five inches long, 
while the male is only two inches in length. In 
this species the body is widest in the middle, 
while in other species it is widest at the ante- 
rior end. The palps are long, and the second 
head-piece (peristomium) is twice as long as the 
next segment. The color is reddish-brown and 
iridescent. 
N. limbata. Five to six inches long; jaws 
light yellow, sharp, and slender ; parapodia and 
bristles smaller on the anterior than on_ the 
posterior end ; color dark brown, with light lines 
on the sides and appendages, pale red on the 
posterior end; dorsal blood-vessel apparent, and 
the heart-like pulsations can be distinctly seen. 
The male worm is red in the middle section. 
Found along the middle Atlantic coast on sandy 
shores. 
S) 
Nereis pelagica. 1, male; 
2, female. 
FAMILY NEPHTHYDDE 
In this family the worms have a long, 
thick, flattish body, a section of which has 
a quadrangular form. The lobes of the — Nereistimbata. Male, anterior 
g . . : part of body, head and extended 
parapodia are widely separated and fringed _ proboscis, 
12 
