| OCR Text |
Show 672 DR. A. G. BOURNE ON INDIAN EARTHWORMS. [Dec. between them than between a ventral row and the lateral row of the same side. It is a small weak-looking worm. I found specimens at Ootacamund and at Naduvatam. MONILIGASTER SAPPHIRINAOIDES, sp. n. This worm presents a well-marked clitellum extending over somites x., xi., xii., and xiii. The gizzard occupies somites xvii.-xxi. This is a very strong active worm, rather larger than a big English Lumbricus agricola, and presents most exquisite iridescent colours, among which a metallic bluish-green is the most marked. I found it in immense numbers in some very wet black mud under turf near the Pykarah Waterfalls, at, I believe, an elevation of about 6000 feet. When placed in spirit it becomes olive-green in colour, while the clitellum becomes almost pinkish. MONILIGASTER ROBUSTUS, sp. n. The gizzard occupies somites xi.-xv. This worm is easily recognized by its very pointed posterior extremity, just the anal somites being bright pink, while the rest of the worm is dull in colour. In other respects it resembles 31. sapphirinaoides. I found a few specimens only, crawling across a path on a drenching clay, on top of one of the hills at Ootacamund. MONILIGASTER PAPILLATUS, sp. n. This species is characterized by long tubular papillae in connection with the pores between somites x. and xi. The gizzard occupies somites xvi.-xx. I found this at Ootacamund and Coonoor. This is a much longer worm than any of the other species, with the exception of M. grandis. MONILIGASTER RUBER, sp. n. The gizzard seemed to occupy only somites xiii. and xiv. In somites x., xi., and xii. there were soft-walled swellings of the intestine looking like gizzard, only not muscular. The worm had a thin body-wall, and the organs showing through give it a blood-red appearance. It is a small worm about 100 millim. long. I obtained only a single specimen from Salem. MONILIGASTER MINUTUS, sp. n. The gizzard occupies somites xii., xiii., and xiv. This is a small worm resembling Perionyx saltans in appearance, but not very active. The ovaries, or at any rate sacs containing ripe ova, occupy somites xii.-xv. at least. I found numerous specimens in wet ground at Salem. When 1 have determined more accurately the structure of the generative organs in this genus, this species'will probably prove an interesting one. |
