ZOOLOGISCHE MEDEDEELINGEN — DEEL I. 



I. — ON NEW AND LITTLE-KNOWN SPECIES OF POLYNOINAE 

 FROM THE NETHERLANDS' EAST- INDIES. 

 BY Dr. R. HORST. 



Our knowledge of the Aphroditidae from the Malay- Archipelago 



hitherto was very scanty and considering the great variety of those worms in 

 neighboring seas — Grube from the Philippines '), mentioned 27 and Potts 

 from the Indian Ocean 31 species 2 ) — it could be expected that a thorough 

 examination of this region, as done by the Siboga-expedition, should reveal 

 us many new and interesting form; in these expectations we are not 

 disappointed. Two remarkable species viz. Lepidasthenia sibogae and 

 Eulejns malayana, besides three species of Psammolyce are already men- 

 tioned before 3 ) ; in the present paper we wish to confine ourselves to the sub- 

 family of the Polynoinae. Only six representatives of this group hitherto 

 are mentioned from Amboina, Borneo, Ceram and Ternate, viz. Lepidonotus 

 carinulatus Gr., — Wahlbergi Kinb., Polynoë cornuta Fischli, — (Lepid.) 

 gymnonotus Mrz. — cristatus Gr., {Polynoë tumorifera Gr.) and Sealiseto- 

 torus ceramensis Mclnt, whereas in the Siboga-collections I was able to 

 recognize more as forty species and varieties of Polynoinae *). 



Unfortunately it is no easy task to decide to what genus these spe- 

 cies belong, for every one, who has been occupied with the study of 

 Polynoinae, will agree with Johnson's assertion that „the classification of 

 the Polynoids is in a most unsatisfactory state, and much in need of 

 thorough revision. The great multiplication of genera, nearly all of them 

 founded upon variable, non-essential, or even accidental characters, and 

 none of them clearly and fully defined, has been a serious drawback to 

 the study of these interesting forms 5 )." Also Darboux in his elaborate 

 paper „Recherches sur les Aphroditiens" °), has not succeeded to give a 

 clear definition of the different genera and it is not unusual to see the 



1) Annulata Semperiana, Beitrâge zur Kenntniss der Annelidenfauna der Philippine!! : Mem. 

 de l'Acad. Imp. des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg (7e S.) t XXV. 1878. 



2) Polychaeta of the Indian Ocean: Transact. Linn. Society of London, Vol. XÏII, 1910. 



3) Notes from the Leyden Museum, Vol. XXXV. 1912/13, p. 161 and 186. 



4) The common worm Iphione muricata (Sav.) and the rare IpJiionella cimex (Qfgs) I prefer 

 to range into the sub-family : Tphioniae. 



5) A preliminary account of the Marine Annelids of the Pacific coast etc. Proc. California 

 Acad, of Sc. (S. 3) Vol. I (Zoology) 1897. 



6) Bull. Scient, de la Fraoce'et de la Belgique, Vol. XXXIIT. 1900. 



