ALBERT

Description: Worms belonging to the genus Psammolyce, that are characterized by having their elytra and the median part of their back covered with papillae, adapted for the retention of small particles of the bottom upon which they are living, hitherto were not observed in the Malay Archipelago. Yet the Siboga-expedition had the good luck to collect a number of them (though often in fragments), that certainly represent three species. However it is no easy task to recognize the characters, offering a trustworthy criterion for the distinction of the species. With regard to the elytra f. i. Willey says: „they are not safe objects for comparison, since they vary from segment to segment” ¹); however Potts rightly stated, that certain features of the elytra as a whole are certainly characteristic for a group of species ²). In Psammolyce arenosa ³) and its allies f. i. the elytra are provided with two lobes at their median corner and another lobe at the posterior margin, whereas in an other group of species [Ps. fijiensis 4), -occidentalis 4) and -malayana] the first pair of elytra are strongly elongated, giving to the head a snout-like appearance. Moreover the structure of the neuropodial setae affords good material for the discremination of the species, as f. i. Ps. flava ¹) is easily recognized by this single character, and also the appearance of the dorsal cirrus of the third segment may be different in some of the species. Unfortunately the earlier naturalists have not always described these different characters with sufficient conciseness.

Description: At Station 282, off the North East point of Timor, at a depth of 27—54 M., a single Polynoid-worm was kept, that is characterized not only by the singular shape of its elytra, but also by the abnormal manner of their attachment. For the elytra have not the usual appearance of flat, scale-like organs, that are attached at their under side, but they are represented by small oval buds, not quite so high as broad and fixed at their median side to a long elytrophore; there are 26 pairs of them, as in other Lepidasthenia-species situated on segment 2, 4, 5, 7, 9—23, 26, 29—65. They are quite smooth and without any appendages. About the internal structure of these organs ¹) I have observed, that like in other elytra there is an epidermis-layer of polygonal cells, ending at their base in fine fibres, forming a dense network in the centre of the organ; the presence of a nerve could not be stated with certainty, but they contain a great number of dark, yellowish, glandular (?) cells. The dorsal cirri are also very short and do not exceed the elytra much in length except at the anterior segments. The parapodia are very slender; in the posterior region they are (with the bristles) as long as the breadth of the body, in the anterior part they measure two thirds of it. The notopodial fascicle is absent and only represented by the acicula; the neuropodial bristles are faintly curved in their distal part and show a short subterminal dilatation with a small number of transverse spinous rows. The inferior setae of this fascicle have a simple undivided apex; however some of the superior ones have a bifurcated tip, the main point of which is elongated in a long, slender, acute limb, whereas the other limb measures about a third of it. In my opinion the situation of the elytra in this species affords a new argument in favour of the morphological similarity of the elytron and the dorsal cirrus, for in Lepidasthenia sibogae the tubercula dorsalia (elytrontubercles) are not only totally absent, but the elytra are fixed at the extremity of long elytrophores, quite agreeing in their situation and appearance with the cirrophores.

Description: The genus Notopygos was based by Grube in 1855 ¹) on an Amphinomid worm from St. Helena, N. crinitus, especially characterized by having the anus situated dorsally at some distance from the last segment. Some time afterwards ²) he described another species, N. ornatus, from Puntarenas in Costa Rica and mentioned the presence of two dorsal cirri. Meanwhile (1857) Kinberg ³), probably unacquainted with the last named species, published a new diagnosis of the genus, in which not only the characteristical situation of the anus was not mentioned, but also added to it “cirrus dorsualis pedis unicus”. It may be presumed, that the worms collected by him in the neighbourhood of St. Helena and considered to be young specimens of N. crinitus, belonged to an other genus, because he described the caruncle as “sulco longitudinali” instead of “crista media praeditus”. Moreover lie introduced the new genus Lirione, characterized by having “cirri dorsuales utrinque bini”, in behalf of two undescribed Amphiuomidae, L. splendens from Tahiti and L. maculata from Panama. Kinberg therefore published an erroneous diagnosis of the genus Notopygos and proposed the new name Lirione for two species, undoubtedly belonging to the first named genus, that of Grube. Baird ¹) did not recognize this error, that was corrected by subsequent investigators (Ehlers, Macintosh a.o.). Nowadays about a dozen of species of Notopygos are described, but, as is rightly stated by Potts ²), they are unfortunately rather ill-defined and so it is sometimes a very difficult, if not an impossible task to recognize the species. Potts found that one or more of the anterior segments always possess denticulated setae, even when in an other region of the body they are not present. I for one think however, that the presence or absence of serrations in the setae is not the only character that must be taken into account, as, like in Chloeia, the branchiae do not seem to commence always on the same segment and also the number of the folds of the caruncle and the situation of the anal pore differs in different species, though unfortunately in several cases this is not mentioned by the authors. In the following table the hitherto described species of Notopygos are enumerated, especially in order to demonstrate the numerous gaps in our knowledge of this genus.

Description: In my paper »Contributions towards the knowledge of the Annelida polychaeta, I: Amphinomidae” 1) I was the first to describe the genus Pherecardia, characterized by having a caruncle, composed of a median heart-shaped axis, that bears on each side several (7) folded lobes of a lamelliform shape and directed backward. A tuft of short cylindrical branchial filaments occurs on each body-ring and the bristles of the ventral fascicles are not bifurcated, but provided with a hooklike bend tip, whereas the dorsal ones are partly capillary, partly stout, with serrations, having the shape of an Y. It was based on a badly preserved specimen, of which the locality was unknown, but in 1902 Collin mentioned it in his »Verzeichniss der von Prof. Semon bei Amboina und Thursday Island gesammelten Polychäten” 2), however without giving any peculiarity about the specimen he examined. A year later 1903, Fischli published an account of the »Polychäten von Ternate”, collected by Kükenthal 1); among them he described and figured a new species, Amphinome sericata. characterized by the presence of a caruncle consisting of a median axis and 8 lateral folded lamellae, whereas the dorsal bristle-fascicle shows the particular harpoon-like setae above referred to. It appears to me to be without doubt, that this worm must be identified with my Pherecardia lobata, and I cannot very well understand how the author could range this annelid in the genus Amphinome, that has a small, faintly developed caruncle and branchiae which only commence on the 3rd or 4th segment.

Description: Our knowledge of the genus Chloeia, though containing Annelids that for the greatest part are obviously coloured and are living in shallow water, is very incomplete; for although about twenty species have been described, it is a fact that more than half this number is insufficiently characterized and based upon badly preserved specimens, having not only lost their distinct colour-markings, but the bristles of which were also disorganized. Although the great Annelidologist Grube in his description of Chl. egena \xc2\xb9) says: \xe2\x80\x9edurch das lange Liegen in Weingeist m\xc3\xb6gen manche Ver\xc3\xa4nderungen entstanden sein, es ist mir aber nicht wahrscheinlich, dass die dunklen, so bestimmt umschriebenen ansehnlichen Flecken, welche bei Chl. flava auf der Mittellinie des R\xc3\xbcckens stehen, spurlos verschwunden sein sollten\xe2\x80\x9d etc., yet this really happens. So f. i., in a specimen of Chl. flava in our museum, brought home from Japan by von Siebold, the dorsal spots have totally disappeared and a couple of individuals of Chl. parva, preserved only for a year in formaline, are entirely discoloured and have lost all colourmarkings. Even the bristles, being of calcareous composition, appear to undergo, probably in consequence of the development of traces of acid in the preserving fluid, considerable changes and to lose sometimes entirely their serrulations 1); f. i. in the collections of the Leyden Museum there is a specimen of Chl. flava, from the Port of Singapore, that for some time was preserved in formaline, showing only smooth bristles. Also the Chl. flava mentioned by Quatrefages, characterized \xe2\x80\x9eremus superus setis laevibus\xe2\x80\x9d 2), can be explained in this manner. Moreover Marenzeller 3) in 1893 fixed the attention thereupon, that the bristles, contained in the anterior body-segments, differ from those of the following ones, and because this character is overlooked in the elder descriptions of the species, \xe2\x80\x9etreten die M\xc3\xa4ngel der bisherigen charakteristik der Chloeia-Arten klar zu tage\xe2\x80\x9d (Marenzeller). In the following table those species of Chloeia are enumerated, which appear to me sufficiently described and figured to be recognized.

Description: At Station 282, off the North East point of Timor, at a depth of 27\xe2\x80\x9454 M., a single Polynoid-worm was kept, that is characterized not only by the singular shape of its elytra, but also by the abnormal manner of their attachment. For the elytra have not the usual appearance of flat, scale-like organs, that are attached at their under side, but they are represented by small oval buds, not quite so high as broad and fixed at their median side to a long elytrophore; there are 26 pairs of them, as in other Lepidasthenia-species situated on segment 2, 4, 5, 7, 9\xe2\x80\x9423, 26, 29\xe2\x80\x9465. They are quite smooth and without any appendages. About the internal structure of these organs \xc2\xb9) I have observed, that like in other elytra there is an epidermis-layer of polygonal cells, ending at their base in fine fibres, forming a dense network in the centre of the organ; the presence of a nerve could not be stated with certainty, but they contain a great number of dark, yellowish, glandular (?) cells. The dorsal cirri are also very short and do not exceed the elytra much in length except at the anterior segments. The parapodia are very slender; in the posterior region they are (with the bristles) as long as the breadth of the body, in the anterior part they measure two thirds of it. The notopodial fascicle is absent and only represented by the acicula; the neuropodial bristles are faintly curved in their distal part and show a short subterminal dilatation with a small number of transverse spinous rows. The inferior setae of this fascicle have a simple undivided apex; however some of the superior ones have a bifurcated tip, the main point of which is elongated in a long, slender, acute limb, whereas the other limb measures about a third of it.\nIn my opinion the situation of the elytra in this species affords a new argument in favour of the morphological similarity of the elytron and the dorsal cirrus, for in Lepidasthenia sibogae the tubercula dorsalia (elytrontubercles) are not only totally absent, but the elytra are fixed at the extremity of long elytrophores, quite agreeing in their situation and appearance with the cirrophores.

Description: During a night in August 1910 Mr. P. Buitendijk catched on the road of Panaroekan, with the pelagic net, a curious Heteronereis-specimen, differing from the species usually met with by the shape of its cephalic lobe, but agreeing in many regards with a similar form from the Gulf of California, collected in 1900 by Diguet and afterwards described by Gravier \xc2\xb9). Our worm (a \xe2\x99\x82) is rather small, measuring only 13 mm. in length, whereas the largest of the California-specimens reaches 23 mm.; the number of its segments amounts to 95. The body shows dorsally on each side a double row of black spots, consisting of a narrow transverse one at the base of each foot and another round patch on the middle of it; veutrally also there occurs a dark spot at the base of each foot. On the other hand the California-species is characterized by a dark transverse band about across the middle of the dorsum of each segment.\nThe prostomium (figs. 1 and 2) is broadly rounded anteriorly, somewhat resembling the bill of a duck, with a longitudinal ridge along its middle. The two pairs of eyes are highly enlarged, close to each other. However only the posterior pair, globular in shape, is situated dorsally, with the lens directed upwards; the anterior pair, elliptical in shape, is for the greater part situated ventrally, having its lens directed downwards. As suggested by Gravier, these pelagic worms probably are swimming as easily on their back as on their belly.

Description: The Bopyrid described in the present paper was detected by my friend Mr. Buitendijk, when examining a lot of the large Palaemon carcinus, offered for sale on the passar (market) of Tandjong-Priok. He collected no less than thirteen specimens of this parasite, but I regret that the exact number of Palaemonidae examined by him is unknown to me. Thanks the careful investigations of Giard 1), Bonnier 2) and Max Weber 3), it is well known that the Palaemonidae of the Malayan Archipelago are especially infested by members of the genus Palaegyge, containing Bopyridae characterized by having rudimentary uropods in the female and the segments of the pleon distinctly separated from each other in the male 4). As far as I know, only seven species are hitherto described, found on six species of Palaemonidae, viz. Palaegyge Borrei and \xe2\x80\x94 Weberi (on Pal. dispar), \xe2\x80\x94 Bonnieri (on Pal. lar), \xe2\x80\x94 fluviatilis (on Pal. lampropus), \xe2\x80\x94 de Mani (on Pal. pilimanus), \xe2\x80\x94 brevipes (on Pal. endehensis), \xe2\x80\x94 incerta (on Pal. bariensis).\nFemale. The largest specimen has a length of 17 mm., its breadth being 18 mm. at the level of the third segment; the smallest one measures only 11 mm. in length and breadth.

Description: During his last expedition to the central mountain range of New Guinea, Mr. H. A. Lorentz collected a couple of Peripatus-specimens, which he kindly placed into my hands for examination. They were found amidst moss on Mount Wichmann at a height of 3000 M. That the couple consists of a male and a female may be considered as a happy chance, taking into account the rarity of the males in comparison with the females among the Peripatidae.\nThe ground-colour of my animals is a uniform dark greenish-blue, somewhat paler on the ventralside especially on the legs, on each side of the segmentalgroove; moreover there is a median ventral row of small whitish spots. These spots, situated between each pair of legs, consist of a smaller, roundish, anterior one and a larger posterior one, somewhat sagittate. The papillae around the mouth and a ring around the middle of the oral papillae are whitish, whereas the pads of the legs are ochraceous, at least in the female; in the male the last coloration is less distinct.

Description: In my paper \xc2\xbbContributions towards the knowledge of the Annelida polychaeta, I: Amphinomidae\xe2\x80\x9d 1) I was the first to describe the genus Pherecardia, characterized by having a caruncle, composed of a median heart-shaped axis, that bears on each side several (7) folded lobes of a lamelliform shape and directed backward. A tuft of short cylindrical branchial filaments occurs on each body-ring and the bristles of the ventral fascicles are not bifurcated, but provided with a hooklike bend tip, whereas the dorsal ones are partly capillary, partly stout, with serrations, having the shape of an Y. It was based on a badly preserved specimen, of which the locality was unknown, but in 1902 Collin mentioned it in his \xc2\xbbVerzeichniss der von Prof. Semon bei Amboina und Thursday Island gesammelten Polych\xc3\xa4ten\xe2\x80\x9d 2), however without giving any peculiarity about the specimen he examined.\nA year later 1903, Fischli published an account of the \xc2\xbbPolych\xc3\xa4ten von Ternate\xe2\x80\x9d, collected by K\xc3\xbckenthal 1); among them he described and figured a new species, Amphinome sericata. characterized by the presence of a caruncle consisting of a median axis and 8 lateral folded lamellae, whereas the dorsal bristle-fascicle shows the particular harpoon-like setae above referred to. It appears to me to be without doubt, that this worm must be identified with my Pherecardia lobata, and I cannot very well understand how the author could range this annelid in the genus Amphinome, that has a small, faintly developed caruncle and branchiae which only commence on the 3rd or 4th segment.