*o. 444] 



PALOLO WORM OF SAMOA. 



8 79 



hue than the male ; the colors here are integumentary. Each of 

 the epitokal segments bears on its ventral surface a prominent 

 pigmented spot, the "Bauchauge" of Ehlers. These eye spots 

 can be traced into the atokal part through about 20 segments, 

 diminishing in size toward the anterior end ; they are lacking on 

 the anal segment and are usually absent in 2-6 of the preanal 

 segments. 



A similar swarming of marine annelids, and at corresponding 

 seasons, is known for other islands of the Pacific, though the 

 worms have not everywhere been identified. Powell 1 speaks 

 of them in the Gilbert Islands where they are known to the 

 natives as te ntnatamata and Codrington 2 gives a detailed account 

 for Mota in the Banks Islands where they are known as mi.* 

 Brown 4 mentions an annual appearance of a "Palolo" on the 

 East coast of New Ireland, and the wawo of Rumphius which 

 occurs at Amboina in the Moluccas is doubtless the same, as has 

 been pointed out by Collin. 5 Seeman 6 mentions the occurrence 

 in the New Hebrides, and it is known in Fiji and Tonga. It is 

 reasonable to suppose that a systematic search would slow the 



coral reefs of the Pacific than has been as yet recorded. That 

 the annelid is best known from Samoa and Fiji is accounted for 



longest inhabited by whites. It is significant also that such 

 whites in the islands of the Pacific. 7 



