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Show 224 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON NEW EARTHWORMS. [Mar. 19, penial setae are long for the size of the worm and also slender. They are curved in the usual way and terminate in a very pointed extremity. The setae are not ornamented. The spermathecae are tubular in shape and have a tubular diverticulum of equal length. Hab. St. 47, Corral, " Wald, unter Steinen." Genus Kerria, Beddard. The collection contained examples of at least three species of this genus, of which I regard two as new. The species which is not new is Eosa's Acanthodrilus spegazzinii. I have before expressed the opinion that this species is really a member of the genus Kerria. I am now in a position to confirm that supposition. The genus is at present chiefly known from an excellent paper by Eisen upon new species which he discovered in California. The existence of this paper renders it necessary for m e to enter into the minute anatomy of the species, to which I refer, or which I describe, for the first time in the present paper. The genus is, so far as we know at the present time, exclusively American. It also appears to be a tropical genus, or at least to be a native of tbe warmer parts of the American continent. The original species of the genus, Eosa's "Acanthodrilus" spegazzinii, was met with in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres ; m y species Kerria halophila was brought back by Mr. Graham Kerr from the upper reaches of the Pilcomayo Eiver. The new species which I describe in tbe present paper were found at Buenos Ayres and in Valdivia. Eisen's species were found by him in Lower California. The two northern species of the genus differ from the southern species in having no gizzard and in having diverticula of the spermathecae. (1) Kerria rosae, n. sp. Eisen has used as a character for distinguishing the different species of this genus the number of setae present upon the segments which bear the pores of the sperm-ducts and of the spermiducal glands. This character is probably valuable, but it must be used with circumspection. In two examples of the present species the setae upon the segments in question differed. In one individual they were all present; in another the inner of tbe two ventral-setae was alone present on segments xvii.-xix., excepting on one side of one segment, where the outer seta alone was present. There is no doubt that this difference has some relation to the condition of the maturity of the worm, but the same remark may possibly apply to other cases. Tbe species to which these observations apply is a longish, thin worm, rather more than an inch in length and about 1 mm. in breadth. A large number of specimens were collected under stones on the banks of the river Baraccas do Sul near Buenos Ayres. The species is described by Michaelsen as having been " flesh-red " during life; none had a clitellum. |