NOTES ON THE MARINE WORMS OF THE 

 CHANNEL ISLANDS. 



BY MR. JAMES HOENELL, 



No. I.— INSTANCES OF COMMENSALISM. 



Perhaps among no other group of animals is Commensalism 

 — as contrasted with Parasiticism strictly so-called — so com- 

 mon as among the Polychceta or marine bristle-bearing 

 annelids. The form taken is generally that where the worm 

 takes up an uninvited abode with another animal better fitted 

 than itself for coping with enemies, so obtaining a welcome 

 shelter. In return for such hospitality, the worm gives little 

 or nothing, though the negative virtue of occasioning no in- 

 convenience or injury to the host must in justice be recorded. 

 Most of the families of the annelida count some member 

 among them exercising this habit, but undoubtedly the chief 

 exponents of this cunning art of safety-seeking are to be found 

 within the ranks of the scale-backed worms — the PolynoincE. 

 Running through the list of this particular family, we find 

 almost every other species adopting some queer one-sided 

 partnership with another animal. Such habit argues intelli- 

 gence of no inferior order, and it is significant to note that the 

 Polynoince stand at the head of the annelida as the most 

 highly organised of the class. 



Our district is rich in examples of this habit. Whether 

 we go out with the dredge or follow a good spring tide as it 

 recedes and hunt for specimens in the profuse richness of the 

 Laminarian zone, instances in plenty reveal themselves to the 

 watchful eye. 



Let us first select a friendly fisherman, who, like the 

 skilled farmer of the sea we know him to be, is acquainted 

 thoroughly with the living harvest of the submarine fields we 

 wish to visit. With such able assistance and the help of our 

 own annotated chart — the latter the sum total of our gleanings 

 from previous trips — we shape a course for the deep water 

 that lies between Guernsey, Herm and Sark on the one hand 



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