166 SCOLECOLEPIS (LAONICE) CIRRATA. 



rounded, the superior is bluntly pointed externally and curved internally, the free distal 

 edge stretching about half the length of the branchia. The upper bristles of the division 

 are long, taper to very fine hair-like points, and have extremely narrow wings. The rows 

 beneath are shorter and stronger, but with finely tapered tips and more distinct wings 

 (Plate CV, fig. 4). Two groups are present in the ventral also, viz. an upper more 

 attenuate series, and a lower with broader wings, but with finely tapered extremities. 

 The ventral lamella is somewhat slipper-shaped, the broader end being uppermost, and 

 both are free (Plate XCVII, fig. 5— fifteenth foot). 



The ligulate branchia at the twenty-fifth foot is nearly of the same size as at the 

 tenth and twelfth, and the great dorsal lamella shows little change, though it scarcely 

 reaches so far upward. The ventral lamella is of similar size to that of the tenth and 

 twelfth, but there is a tendency to a peak at its upper and outer angle. The bristles 

 formerly described remain, and in addition two longer, curved bristles occur at the 

 extreme ventral edge. Occasionally the branchia bear Loxosomas (Fig. 117). 



Fig. 117. — Branchia of Scolecolepis cirrata, Sars, with Loxosomee. Shetland. 



Not a single British example is complete, and few fragments of the anterior end 

 go beyond the twenty-fifth foot; but in a Canadian specimen the fiftieth foot presented 

 a ventral row of the winged hooks, so that the transition, judging from descriptions, 

 would appear to take place near this foot. The upper dorsal bristles have greatly 

 increased in length. 



Behind the branchial region the feet are considerably diminished, and the superior 

 and rather narrow lamella shows a rounded and partly free dorsal border, whilst the 

 ventral edge runs gradually into the body. The dorsal bristles have been increasing in 

 length, and are now very long and slender, with hair-like tips devoid of wings. 



The inferior division presents no distinct lamella, though a conical process occurs 

 inferiorly where there are about two slender capillary bristles. The winged hooks (Plate 

 CV, fig. 4 a) show a slight dilatation of the shaft above the backward curve, then they 

 gradually diminish to the throat from which the main fang comes off at very little more 

 than a right angle, and it does not form a very acute tip. A single spike occurs on 

 the crown (lateral view). The glands are well developed in this region, and continue to 

 the tail. The dorsal bristles become still more slender toward the tail, stretching as 

 long hair-like processes from the feet. 



What seems to be a variety of this species comes from deep water in the ' Triton ' 

 (1883), and also from 313 fathoms in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, in 1872. 



