28 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, 
ON A COMMON NEW ZEALAND PYCNOGONID, 
TOGETHER WITH A TRANSLATION OF SEM- 
PER’'S., KEY »- TO. THE GENERA. | | 
(From Verhandl, der Physik-Medicin Gesellschaft in Wiirzburg, VII Band, 
Pp. 274, 1874.) 
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No one in New Zealand seems to have made the attempt 
to collect and examine the curious animals constituting the order 
Pycnogonide, and no doubt one of the reasons is that there is 
little or no literature on the subject accessible to the majority of 
readers. The earlier information is condensed into a small com- 
pass in M. Edwards’ “ Histoire Naturelle des Crustacés ” which 
brings it down to 1840. Since that date the only original 
English papers dealing with the systematic arrangement of the 
order have been communicated by Goodsir, Gosse, and Hodge, 
and frequently in very out-of-the-way publications. Hesse’s 
papers in the “ Annales des Sciences Naturelles ” are of question- 
able value, while Griibe’s are difficult to obtain, being scattered 
throughout several German publications. Lastly, Kroyer’s valu- 
able contributions to the knowlegde of this subject are still more 
inaccessible to English readers. It was therefore a great step 
towards smoothing the way for future systematists, when Karl 
Semper, in 1874, published his researches under the title “ Ueber 
Pycnogonidenand ithrein Hydroiden-schmarotzenden Larvenform” 
in the Wiirzburg journal. This communication deals chiefly 
with development, but appended to it is a classification and 
summary of all the known species, together with the complete 
bibliography on the subject. Hodge, in the Ann. and Mag. of 
Nat. Hist. (in 1864), states the whole number of British species 
at 32, belonging to 8 genera. Semper in 1874, gives 55 species 
(8 of which are doubtful), belonging to 11 genera, as the total 
known. Since the publication of his paper many more species 
have been added, chiefly as the results of deep sea dredgings, and 
these bring up the number probably to 100 or more. Dr. 
Dohrn’s magnificent monograph, lately issued, brings our infor- 
mation up to the latest date. 
I have frequently come across a Pycnogonid while collecting 
crustacea in rock-pools along the coast near Dunedin and Sum- 
ner, and have dredged it in great numbers in Otago Harbour 
among sertularians. _I have also specimens from Oamaru, 
gathered by Mr. D. Petrie. |Our species is Ammothea pycno- 
gonides (Nob.) a European form which systematists and writers 
of zoological manuals have adopted as typical of the order. It 
is described and figured by de Quatrefages in the Ann. des Sc. 
Nat., Ser. III. Vol. IV., p. 71—PIl. I (1845), and the figure is re- 
