2IO 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXXVIII. 



"is restricted to muddy shores and bottoms, in sheltered situa- 

 tions and is found also in muddy ponds and estuaries." Smith 

 and Prime state that the animal is rare, found in mud at a depth 

 of one or two fathoms. Balch ('99) states that the animal, 

 "Haminea solitaria, Bulla solitaria, is rather uncommon alive, 

 sometimes occurs on marsh grass, top of sea walls." In regard 

 to the general distribution of this species Verrill says, " From 

 Mass. Bay to South Carolina it is common in muddy lagoons and 

 salt ponds, in shallow water where not too brackish, along the 

 shores of Vineyard Sound, Buzzard's Bay, and Long Island 

 Sound. Abundant in a small pond near Holme's Hole, in New 

 Haven Harbor, in ditches near Fort Hale." 



Haminta solitaria is found rather commonly in the Eel Pond 

 and Big Harbor at Wood's Holl, at Hadley Harbor, and at the 

 bathing beach on Buzzard's Bay at Wood's Holl. During the 

 laying season the animal migrates into shallow water and may 

 occasionally be seen upon the eel grass and algas, but usually 

 not in water less than two feet deep at low tide. If the eel 

 grass be disturbed they drop at once into the water and fall to 

 the bottom, where it is very difficult to see them, owing to their 

 form and color being so similar to the ordinary weeds and mud 

 at the bottom ; thus it is practically impossible to gather animals 

 by looking for them on the weeds or bottom. They have been 

 secured in two ways : first, by taking an ordinary fine-mesh dip 

 net and skimming off the sea weeds and half an inch of mud 

 from the bottom, then carefully wa.shing out the mud ; in this 

 way a number have been secured in the shallow ponds and 

 lagoons about Wood's Holl; secondly, by dredging; this 

 method is necessary in deep water. Bulla may be found, even 

 in the breeding season, in water thirty feet deep in the Big Har- 

 bor at Wood's Holl, — the greatest depth where they have been 

 found. This peculiarity may be due to the fact that their for- 

 mer laying spot in shallow water is now occupied by a deep sea 

 wall. Dr. Charles B. Wilson obtained a number of solitaria by 

 skimming in clear water uear Edgartown about the i8th of 

 August. He was sure that the net did not pass over any eel 

 grass or sink bene.ith the surfac-. I feel sure that this is the 

 real explanation of the occurrence of Bulla in great abundance 



