280 



ring. As these characters are often poorly described or overlooked 

 it may be desirable to give a more detailed description of them. 



The ciliated funnels are, as far as known, found in all the species. 

 According tojohs. Müller they are wanting in violacea, but the 

 specimen at hand shows that funnels are really present. The funnels 

 are usually found on the mesenteries, close to the body-wall, and 

 only in violacea, where the mesenteries are nearly totally reduced, 

 the funnels are found on the body-wall proper. The arrangement 

 of the funnels on the mesenteries is very different, but within the 

 single species rather constant. They may be either uniformly scat- 

 tered, arranged into small groups or united into stalked clusters 1 ). 

 The real arrangement of the funnels is usually exceedingly difficult 

 to decide, and only careful dissection, besides coloured balsam-pre- 

 parations may show the real case. The funnels are, as far as can be 

 seen, irregularly scattered on the mesentery in aponocrita Clark, 

 and in lœvis Fabricius they are usually arranged into small groups 

 (Fig. 55. 4). In "Über eine lebendig-gebärende Synaptide" pag. 45 

 Ludwig states that the funnels in rotifera and discolor are ar- 

 ranged singly on the mesentery, and in Bronn's "Klassen" pag. 225 

 he writes that the funnels in discolor are "fast immer in Gruppen", 

 but not united into clusters. The examination of the specimens at 

 hand, shows that Lud wig's statements are erroneous, as the fun- 

 nels in discolor are usually (always?) united into stalked clusters 

 (Fig. 55. 5), and that some of the funnels in rotifera are free, as 

 Ludwig writes, while others are united into clusters (Fig. 59. 1). 

 In some of the species with the funnels normally free some few 

 (2 — 3) funnels may be united at the base, without making "stalked 

 clusters" (Fig. 62. 13). In most species there is, in spite of some 

 variation in shape and size, only one sort of funnels, but in stuhl- 

 manni there are two different sorts (Fig. 64. 2). Lam pert states 

 that in this species the small funnels are confined to the dorsal and 



!) In 1921 Clark writes in the key to the genera of the Chiridotinae, and 

 in the footnote on the same side, that the two genera Chiridota and Poly- 

 cheira are separated from each other, the funnels in Chiridota being 

 placed singly on the mesenteries, and those in Polycheira being always 

 united into clusters. Though the shape of the clusters in the two genera 

 is distinctly different, and most likely indicates a generic difference, we 

 do not as yet sufficiently know the variation of these organs, for being 

 justified in using them as generic characters. 



