. A catalogue of the British non-parasitical worms in the collection of the British Museum. Worms. HETERONEREIS. IG5 Length of the ventral cirrus ; superior cirrus overreaching its lobe. 18". Nereis longissima, Johnston in Ann. Nat. Hist. v. 178. Heteronereis paradoxa, Oersted, Gi-oenl. Annul. Dorsibr. 23. f. 50, 63, 64 & 66; Kroyer's Naturh. Tids. 1842, 116. Nereis paradoxa, Grube, Fam. Annel. 50. Hab. Coast of Ireland. Desc. The specimen before me is of the extraordinary length of 2 feet! but as it has become very soft in the spirits, it would perhaps not much exceed 18 inches when
. A catalogue of the British non-parasitical worms in the collection of the British Museum. Worms. HETERONEREIS. IG5 Length of the ventral cirrus ; superior cirrus overreaching its lobe. 18". Nereis longissima, Johnston in Ann. Nat. Hist. v. 178. Heteronereis paradoxa, Oersted, Gi-oenl. Annul. Dorsibr. 23. f. 50, 63, 64 & 66; Kroyer's Naturh. Tids. 1842, 116. Nereis paradoxa, Grube, Fam. Annel. 50. Hab. Coast of Ireland. Desc. The specimen before me is of the extraordinary length of 2 feet! but as it has become very soft in the spirits, it would perhaps not much exceed 18 inches when alive. It is of the thickness of a goose-quill, and of a pearl colour with olivaceous feet, which are very large and flexile. Head distinct, rather small, obtusely trian- gular ; the antennae minute and shorter than the palpi. Proboscis • No. XXXIII.—Heteronereis The numbers affixed to the Woodcut figures express the number of the segment from which the foot was taken that served for the figure; m means that the foot was from near the middle; and p, from near the posterior extremity of the body. large, destitute of all horny prickles, but armed with powerful jaws, which are only faintly serrulated near the base. Post-occipital seg- ment not larger than the second. Tentacular cirri short, not so long as the breadth of the segment. Segments very numerous. Feet (No. XXXIII.) of the anterior pairs with three rather long papil- lary and equal branchial lobes, the dorsal cirrus not reaching much beyond their apices; but the posterior feet much resemble those of H. renalis. Although the size of an animal is not usually reckoned a good specific character, yet we know that every species has in this respect certain limits which it never either much exceeds or falls short of. For this reason, it seems to me impossible to regard Heteronereis lon- gissima as a variety of H. renalis, notwithstanding the similarity in the structure and figure of the feet would induce tha
Size: 2148px × 1163px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectworms, bookyear1865
