182 
Prof. McIntosh’s Notes from the 
is interesting to note how persistently the larval and post- 
larval forms of some species occur for months. Any danger 
which a limited spawning-period might engender is thus 
obviated. As soon as the later stages are reached, with the 
exception of Tomopteris , they cease to be pelagic, and have 
to be sought at the bottom or between tide-marks. 
2. On the British Species of Spinther. 
In his recent elaborate account of the genus Spinther* 
Prof. L. von Graff has placed the form I had mentioned as 
Spinther oniscoides, Johnst., under Spinther arcticus , Wirdn. 
The British form referred to was procured in the beginning 
of August 1865 from the long lines of the fishermen in the 
Minch. It was small, dead or nearly so, and rapidly decom- 
posing, so that the dorsal lamella and other parts were 
injured. The original specimen of S. oniscoides is not in the 
British Museum, and is thought by Prof. Jeffrey Bell to have 
been lost, and some doubt then existed as to the minute 
characters. It differs from the other species which have been 
subsequently discovered, especially in regard to the cirrus on 
the parapodia and the presence of bristles with simple tips in 
the dorsal lamellae. 
A minute examination of the Hebridean specimen, however, 
shows that while the species is not Spinther oniscoides , 
Johnston, it is certainly not 8 . arcticus, Wiren. The contour 
and general structure approaches that of S. miniaceus , Grube, 
and in this Prof, von Graff now agrees with me. No cirrus 
is present, and the free lateral (circumferential) lamellae diverge 
from the condition in the other two forms mentioned. The 
bristles of the dorsal lamellae are bifid, any simple tips seen 
in the preparations being due to position (on edge). The 
ventral surface is marked by rows of minute warts, while the 
pharyngeal region in protrusion forms a smooth trumpet-like 
expansion, and thus differs from the organ in S* arcticus . 
Spinther is one of the rarest British Annelids, and seems 
to be confined to the western shores. The Irish coast should 
be specially searched, as it is very desirable to have an 
example of the original species described by Dr. Johnston, 
which was sent to him from Belfast Bay (6-10 fathoms). 
3. On the Young Stages of the Gunnel (Centronotus 
gunnellus). 
In the paper on the u Development and Life-histories of 
Teleostean Fishes ” an account is given of the gunnel from 
* Arbeiten aus d. Zoolog. Institut zu Graz, ii. Bd. No. 3 (1887). 
