SERPULA. CREEPER. 
Ih3 
sometimes, the ridge on the back is obsolete, and frequently 
there are two other small ridges, one on each side the dos¬ 
sil elevation. 
I'ariety. Dark olive green with a short space about the 
' aperture clear white or tinged with red 5 the dorsal ridge 
serrated by the strong transverse ridges, and produced in 
to into a white tooth-like projection. 
On shells and other substances, v. v . 
12. Scrpula complexa. Complex Creeper . 
Shell opake, perfectly cylindrical and of equal diameter 
Its whole length, not spreading ut tlie sides, slightly wrin¬ 
kled transversely and a little flexuous, of a dirty white or 
grey color, growing together in numerous compact en¬ 
twined groups of from five to fifty in each, which divaricate 
t a straight or curved line, and attach themselves to other 
clusters, so as to form altogether a sort of reticulate mass, 
the interstices of which are about a quarter of an inch in 
diameter, and which again branch out botli in extent and 
height, terminating at length in close-set flat-topped tufts 
resembling minute honey*couibs: those which do not reach 
^.e top, but exhaust themselves in the formation of the 
bandies, arc attached at both ends, and often detached and 
separate in the middle ; and sometimes one or more coa¬ 
lesce together with others in an anastomosing manner, 
forming a very minute net-work : their length individually 
isfrom an inch to an inch and a half ; and their diameter 
does not exceed that of the very finest thread. 
Masses of this beautiful and coral-like species, entwined 
together like clusters of minute serpents, and supported 
only by each other, are occasionally but rarely dredged up 
on the Devonshire coast. Our largest specimen, consisting 
d many thousands of individuals, measuring seven inches 
long, five wide, and four in height, hardly weighs three 
ounces; and from the appearance of the general base 
Hems to have been affixed to a rock under the ocean. A 
snsi! fragment was pointed out to us by Mr. Loscombe, as 
very well represented at plate 10. fig. 18. of Humphrey’s 
and Da Costa’s Conchology, but without description. 
^ Jt differs from S. glomerata in being smooth, v. v . 
13. Serpula 
