350 



H. H. Anderson— JN^o/es on Tndiaii Rutifers. 



[No. 4, 



some oases covering the whole body, iu others noticeable only on parts, 

 but they are never absent from the greater part of the body. 



13. RoTiPEE VULGARIS, Schrank, 

 Here, as elsewhere, deserves its name. 



14. ROTIFEK MACEOCEEOS, GosSe. 



Many specimens seen. 



15. ROTIFEB MENTO, n. sp., PI. XX, Pigs. 5 & 5, d. 

 It is with much hesitation that I describe this species, for when I 

 mentioned to a microscopist of considerable experience that I had found 

 a Rotifer inhabiting a tube, he smiled incredulously and said that I must 

 either have been mistaken or that the Botifer had made use of a tube 

 built by some other creature. However, as its other characteristics aro, 

 it seems to me, sufficient to mark it as a new species, I shall describe 

 them first. The characteristic which is the most striking on casual ob- 

 servation is the very distinct and projecting chin, with the buccal funnel 

 running down from it in a way that reminds one of a Melicerta. The 

 corona is small ; the dorsal antenna very long and mobile ; the frontal 

 column is thick, short, and stout, with the appearance of a hook at its 

 upper end ; the eyes ai-e round and bright and of a moderate size ; the 

 jaws have two teeth ; the body is deeply fluted and wanting in trans- 

 parency, so that the intestines were not very easily made out. It is 

 viviparous : a young one was seen in the body of one specimen which 

 must have been nearly as long as its parent ; the wreath of the unborn 

 rotifer was often in motion, thongh I did not, at any time, observe the 

 jaws move. With relation to the tube ; I have seen at different times 

 over a dozen specimens of this species. (In all cases the water was 

 taken from the same tank.) Every specimen except one was inhabiting 

 a tube, and these tubes were all of tbe same character and all small in 

 comparison to the size of the creature. The tube resembled that of an 

 (Echistes, its substance appeared to be transparent, but it was so thickly 

 covered with foreign matter that it was practically opaque. The first 

 specimen I had under observation for nearly six hours and it did not 

 leave its tube. I turned the piece of weed over, then tore the tube olf 

 the weed, and, though the Botifer was now able to swim about dragging 

 its tube after it, it did not leave its hold. Finally, I crushed the tube, 

 and the Botifer then swam off ; and 1 was able to see that it had the foot 

 of its genus. When disturbed the Rotifer contracted and curled itself 

 into the tube. This was not a mere contraction of the body, but it took 



