276 LEPIDONOTUS SQUAMATUS. 



ventral muscles divides the surface into a median and two lateral regions, the former 

 having the furrows of the segments from side to side, the latter only at the ed^es, as the 

 muscular region is smooth. In some the dorsum is rendered dull ochreous by a deposit 

 of this colour in the grooves, the ridges being pale, and the same ochreous coating is 

 found on the under surface and inner edge of the scales. A solution of potash makes no 

 change, but dilute hydrochloric acid slowly removes the deep orange colour and renders 

 the granules invisible. 



Posteriorly the body terminates in two symmetrical basal processes which bear cirri 

 longer than on other parts of the body, but having the same structure and coloration. 

 The anus is a small aperture (especially when contrasted with that of L. clava) opposite 

 the posterior border of the penultimate pair of feet. 



Proboscis. — The exserted proboscis shows a series of eighteen 1 papillae around the 

 margin. These vary somewhat in shape, being conical or hatchet-like in outline, with a 

 terminal process and a beak, or in shape somewhat like a dactylozoid of Millepora. All 

 have a trace of dark pigment in the centre. The horny teeth alternate, so that the 

 upper go slightly to the right of the under pair. The horny ridge on each side of these 

 organs will also subserve the functions of division of food. 



Three caeca from the gut pass obliquely outward to the dorsal wall, the fourth being 

 nearly transverse. They are larger and less alternate than those of Harmothoe, and of a 

 darker yellow hue. They are richly glandular, with deep yellow granular cells or masses 

 here and there, giving a minutely dotted aspect to the surface. Their tips present only 

 a short lobe in addition to the terminal one. Their arrangement and aspect thus differ 

 from those of Harmothoe. 



The food in the intestine consists of sand-grains, fragments of crustaceans, and 

 other debris. 



Colour. — The dorsum is of an uniform brownish-grey hue in some, or with a lighter 

 area on each scale, the inner edge of which has, moreover, a dark brownish spot. In 

 others the central pale area has a nearly complete brownish ring encircling it. In 

 those from the stomach of the cod the papillae, especially on the anterior scales, 

 retain their colour, so that they are conspicuous. Again, in examples from Guernsey 

 and Shetland the larger bosses on the anterior scales were of a reddish amber hue, while 

 some young specimens were mottled with reddish brown or madder brown. Those from 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence had bristles of a dusky golden hue, and the papillae of the 

 scales were also darker. Under surface iridescent, bluish pink anteriorly, and pinkish 

 posteriorly. In some from Shetland (Bressay Sound) the bases of the posterior feet 

 ventrally had a well-marked touch of blackish pigment situated between the nephridial 

 processes and extending from the tail fully a dozen feet forward, and a series of dark 

 touches in the median line in each segment, a pale longitudinal streak, however, cutting 

 each into two. 



Scales. —The first pair of scales are rounded, and, like the two or three following, 

 have large horny tubercles, the darker colour in some specimens making them very 

 prominent, and each is ciliated for more than half its circumference. The next pair are 

 reniform, and the succeeding are more or less ovoid. The brownish horny tubercles or 



1 De Saint-Joseph says sixteen. 



