42 



MR L. N. G. RAMSAY ON POLYCHiETA OF THE FAMILY NEREIDS, 



vidual variation, in such characters as the numbers and grouping of paragnaths, and the 

 relative lengths of appendages, has apparently led astray several former investigators of 

 the group, and has resulted in the creation of a deplorable number of perfectly indistin- 

 guishable species. This is undoubtedly due in some measure to the laborious nature of 

 the examination necessary for the adequate determination of the characters of a nereid. 



In the preparation of this report, the extensive collections of Nereidse in the 

 Cambridge University zoological laboratories, hailing from all regions of the globe, have 

 been of great assistance ; for these I am indebted to Mr F. A. Potts. It may be 

 mentioned here that the writer is at present engaged on a revision of the family as a 

 whole, and on this account one or two points, such as the relationships of the species 

 allied to N. falklandica, or of the species comprised in the sub-genus or group Platy- 

 nereis, have not been discussed in the present paper. 



I have to thank Professor J. Stanley Gardiner and Mr F. A. Potts for helpful 

 advice. My best thanks are also due to Professor F. Jeffrey Bell for kindly allowing 

 me access to the collections at the Natural History Museum for purposes of comparison ; 

 finally, to Dr W. S. Bruce himself for permitting me to examine the material. 



Table of Species, with Localities. 



Nereis herguelensis M'Int. 



Nereis eugenise (Kbg.). . 

 Nereis mirabilis Kbg. 

 Nereis pelagica Lin. 

 Nereis falklandica n. sp. 

 Nereis australis (Schmarda). 



Nereis dumerilii Aud. et Edw.. 

 nov. comata. . 



subsp. 



South Orkneys. 

 Falkland Islands. 

 Falkland Islands. 

 Brazilian coast. 

 Cape of Good Hope. 

 Falkland Islands. 

 Falkland Islands. 

 Cape of Good Hope. 



North Atlantic (mid-ocean). 



Nereis herguelensis M'Int. 

 Nereis herguelensis M'lntosh (10), p. 225, pi. xxxv. figs. 10-12. 



Station 325. Scotia Bay, South Orkneys ; many specimens. 



Station 118. One small specimen, Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, January 1903. 



This species was the only representative of the Nereidse obtained at the South 

 Orkneys, where it was apparently fairly common in the littoral zone at Scotia Bay. 

 Many specimens were collected in 9-10 fathoms; they are accompanied by tough 

 membranous tubes in which they lived. 



Two specimens from Scotia Bay (season ?) are undergoing change to the heteronereid 

 form. 



It appears to be a peculiarity of this species that the spinigerous setae of the lower 



