424 
THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
siliceous hairs, mixed with an occasional sponge-spicule or fragment of minute Crustacean. 
A few Radiolarians also occurred, and some seem to have been swallowed alive, or at 
least perfectly fresh. 
Family Ampharetida:. 
The members of this family, of which an excellent resume has been given by Grube,^ 
are perhaps more abundant in Arctic and Antarctic Seas than in the warmer oceans. 
But at the same time no group in the Challenger series is more thoroughly abyssal, at 
least where the numbers are considerable. Of the fifteen representatives two-thirds come 
from depths ranging from 1100 to 2750 fathoms, the remaining five being found between 
75 and 470 fathoms. Several forms resembling the European pass to the American 
shores. 
The representatives of the family are not numerous in the collections of former 
voyagers. Thus no species is mentioned by Schmarda. Kinberg again describes a 
single new Patagonian Am'pliarete [Ampharete patagonica), in addition to finding the 
common Amphicteis gunneri. Grube has two in the Philippine collection, and he 
describes a new genus, Phyllocomus, found at the Crozets and Kerguelen in the collection 
of the German ship “ Gazelle.” None occur in his Annulata CErstediana, Ehlers found 
three known species in that part of the “Porcupine” collection sent him for examination, 
and of these Melinna cristata descended to 1366 fathoms. In Marenzeller’s series from 
Southern Japan two species, viz., the European Amage auricula, and Grube’s Philippine 
species, Amphicteis angustifolia, occur. 
In some cases it has not been thought necessary to go into detail in regard to 
external form where correspondence with the typical species is close. Only the 
diagnostic features have been mentioned. It is noteworthy in connection with the latter 
that the hooks both of the new species in this family and in the Terebellidae have not 
been figured by Wiren in his paper on the Annelids of the Vega expedition. 
The closeness with which the various species of Amphicteis approach each other is 
interesting. It is often doubtful whether these be mere varieties of Amphicteis gunneri 
or new forms. The same remark also applies to others of the family. 
Most of the tubes are composed of very fine mud. 
Ampharete, Malmgren. 
Ampharete sombreriana, n. sp. (PL XXVIa. figs. 20, 21). 
Habitat. — Dredged off Sombrero and St. Thomas, West Indies, in 470 and 390 
fathoms. 
1 Jahrb. d. Schles. Gesellsch., Breslau, April 6, IStO, sep. Abel., p. 8. 
