Fam. 3, Plate 33. 



EOLIS PICTA, Alder and Hancock. 



E. alba, maculis fulvis et albis opacis aspersa : brancliiis ovalis, inflatis, fulvo maculatis; in 

 seriebus 7-8 digestis : tentaculis fulvo-cinctis : lateribus anterioribus pedis rotundatis. 



Eolis pallida, Aid. and Hanc. in Ann. Nat Hist, v, 9, p. 35. 



Hab. Among rocks near low-water mark. Whitley, Cullercoats, and Newbiggin, Northumber- 

 land. Malahide Bay, near Dublin. Torbay. Menai Straits, Professor E. Forbes. 



Body about half an inch long, transparent white with a tinge of yellow, spotted with 

 rich orange-brown on the head and shoulders, and along the back, where the spots, which are 

 generally circular, frequently coalesce. The head is also spotted with opake white. Dorsal 

 tentacles long, slightly tapering, smooth, transparent, with a band of orange-brown about 

 half-way down, and spotted with the same colour, and opake white. Oral tentacles linear, 

 much shorter than the dorsal ones, transparent white, with a few orange-brown and 

 opake white spots, and a band of orange-brown near the centre. Branchia ovate, much 

 inflated, and terminating in a slender pale point, frequently with a faint yellowish ring near 

 the apex. They are spotted with opake white and orange-brown, the central vessel being 

 of a delicate pale buff. This vessel is very small in comparison with the papillae, and is 

 slightly elliptical, with the margins irregularly sinuous. The papillae are very various in 

 size, those near the centre of the back being very large, and those near the foot very small. 

 They are set in seven or eight transverse rows of five or six each down the sides of the 

 back, leaving a considerable naked space behind the dorsal tentacles. Foot transparent 

 white, not much produced beyond the branchiae behind, and terminating rather obtusely ; 

 the anterior extremity enlarged, rounded at the sides, and slightly bilobed. 



At the time when we published the description of this species in the ' Annals of Natural 

 History,' we had only seen a single specimen, which proved to be a pale variety, and by no 

 means characteristic of its usual appearance. Since then we have met with many examples, 

 some of them so brilliant in colour, that the name of pallida cannot properly be applied 

 to them. We have therefore substituted that of picta. Sometimes specimens occur nearly 

 without spots, but more frequently the spots are numerous and of a rich orange-brown 

 colour, or occasionally of a rosy hue. In finely developed individuals, the markings are often 

 very dark and dense, particularly on the back. 



Eolis picta is a fine species, — remarkable on account of its large dorsal papillae which 

 have a leaf-like outline. The spawn is deposited on the under side of stones. It is white, 

 and has considerable resemblance to that of some of the Dorididai, having the eggs inclosed 



