NEREIS SCHMAED^EI. 291 



3. Nereis Sohmard^i, Be Quatrefages, 1865. Plate L, fig. 17; Plate LX, fig. 8 — head; 

 Plate LXXII, figs. 2-2 b— feet; Plate LXXXI, figs. 2-2 c— bristles. 



Specific Characters. — Head typical in shape. Eyes large and furnished with lenses, 

 anterior pair oval, posterior circular. Tentacles rather stout and short. Palpi with 

 somewhat slender terminal joints, a ring of pale madder-brown occurring within the tip. 

 Tentacular cirri rather long. A madder-brown patch like a crown occurs in front, with 

 a longitudinal median streak, and behind it a brownish patch with a pale area on each 

 side of the posterior eyes. Body 4 — 5 ins. long, more definitely tapered anteriorly than 

 usual. Of a pale flesh colour throughout, the anterior third toning off to pale yellow, 

 and dull whitish posteriorly. The palpi, peristomial segment, and a considerable number 

 of the anterior segments are flecked with pale madder-brown touches or specks irregularly 

 scattered over each segment, and, after they decline, whitish touches occur at the 

 segment-junctions in the line of the blood-vessel, and posteriorly a double yellowish- 

 white streak occupies the mid-dorsal region of each segment. About the tenth bristled 

 segment a differentiated region is found near the base of each foot in the form of two or 

 three pale brownish dots, and as the body becomes paler the region is recognized by a 

 pale, transversely elongated area on each side at the base of the foot, and a minute black 

 speck often lies at its inner side. These lateral white patches continue within a short 

 distance of the tip of the tail. Proboscis in extrusion has a pair of horny maxillae with 

 twelve to thirteen denticulations. Dorsally the maxillary segment has a row of 

 paragnathi (II) at the bases of the jaws. Ventrally at the base of each maxilla are a 

 crescent and a spur of larger paragnathi (IV), with a group of smaller at the posterior 

 angle between crescent and spur. Dorsally in front of the palpi is on each side a group 

 of small paragnathi (VI) in two rows. The basal division has ventrally a long row of 

 paragnathi in lozenges (VII and VIII). As a rule a larger one is in front near the angle 

 of the lozenge and a row of smaller behind. The first foot is short, a brief space inter- 

 vening between the body and the dorsal cirrus, the tip of which scarcely reaches that of 

 the dorsal lobe. The latter forms a conical blunt cone. Setigerous lobe beneath is 

 obscured by a conical lobe behind it. Ventral lobe large and tongue-shaped. The chief 

 feature of the anterior feet is the rounded, bulbous nature of the lobes and the short 

 cirri, so that at the tenth foot the parts present a bluntly papillose appearance. The 

 lobes become considerably longer after the thirtieth foot, and at the thirty-fifth the dorsal 

 cirrus reaches the end of the lanceolate dorsal lobe. The superior setigerous process has 

 an elongated anterior papilla soldered to it inferiorly. The lamella beneath is shorter 

 and broader than the dorsal. The inferior setigerous lobe is irregularly conical and bifid, 

 a flap being in front and the shorter lip behind. Ventral lamella short and lanceolate. 

 Ventral cirrus small, projecting from an elevated base. Bristles of the dorsal setigerous 

 lobe homogomph, as in the typical Nereids. Those of the inferior lobe at its upper edge 

 are similar, though the tips are shorter, but those toward the ventral border have short 

 tips (heterogomph). 



Epitokous Form. — The nearly ripe Heteronereid distended with large eggs presents 

 indications of change in the thirty-second foot in the form of a rudimentary lamella 



