OCR Text |
Show 460 ANNELIDES. Several species are found in the Mediterranean( 1 ). 0PHELINA, Sav. The body thick and short, with feebly marked rings and scarcely visible setc:e; long cirri in lieu of branchire on two thirds of its length; palate of the mouth with a dentated crest; the lips surrounded with tentacula, of which the two superior are the largest(2). CIRRHATULus, Lam. The branchic:e consisting of a very long filament; two small bundles of setc:e to each of the articulations of the body, which are numerous and compact; a series of long filaments round the nape. The slightly marked head has neither tentacula nor jaws(3). PALMYRA, Sav. The Palmyrre are recognized by their superior fasciculi, the setre of which are large, flattened, flabelliform, and glisten like highly polished gold; their inferior fasciculi are small; their cirri and branchic: e feebly marked. They have an elongated body, two extended tentacula, and three very small ones. Palm. aurifera, Sav. The only species known; it is from one to two inches in length, and is found at the isle of France. APHRODIT A, Lin. This genus is easily known by the two longitudinal ranges of broad membranous scales that cover the back, to which, through a very groundless assimilation, the name of elytra has been given, and under which, their branchic:e, in the form of fleshy crests, are con· cealed. Their body is usually flattened, and shorter and broader than in the other Annelides. Their extremely thick and muscular esopha· gus is susceptible of being protruded like a proboscis; their intestine is unequal, and furnished on each side with numerous branched Ca:!ca, the extremities of which are fixed between the bases of the (1) Hesioneaplendida, Sav., Eg., Annel., pl. iii, f. 3;-H.feativa,Id., lb., p. 41; -H. pantherina, Risso, Eur. Merid., IV, p. 418. (2) This is probably the place for the Nereia priamatica, andbifrona, Fabr., Soc. Hist. Nat. Copen. V, part I, pl. iv, p. 17-23. (3) Lumbricus cirrhatus, Ott., Fabr., Faun. Grrenl., f. 5, from which the Terflbella tentaculata, Montag., Lin. Trans., IX, and the Cirrhinere .filigere, Blainv., pl., of the Diet. des Sc. Nat., N, do not appear to differ as to the genus;-Oirrh. LamMkii, Aud., and Edw., Litt., de la Fr., Annel., pl. vii, f. 1-4. DORSIBRANCHI.AT 1£. 461 setaceous fasciculi, which serve as fieet. M s · · aVlgny distinguishes from them the HALITHEA, Sav. Where there are three tentacula, a small crest between two of them, and where the jaws are wanting. A spe~ies is found on the coast of France, which, with respect to Its colouring, is one of the most splendid of all animals- the .!iphrodita aculeata, L. Pall., Misc., VII, 1-13. It is oval, from six to eight inches in length, and from two to three in breadth. The scales on its back are covered and concealed by a sort of stuff resembling tow, which arises from the sides. From the latter also spring groups of stout spines, which p~rtly transfix the tow, and fasciculi of flexuous setce of a splendid golden colour, whose changeable tints rival those of the rainbow. They are not inferior in beauty to the plumage of the Hummingbird, or to the lustre of the richest gems. Further down is a .tu bercle from which arise three groups of spines ' of as many different diameters, and finally, a fleshy cone. There are forty of these tubercles on each side, and between the two fi1•st are two small fleshy tentacula. There are fifteen pairs of wide, and sometimes inflated scales on the back, and fifteen small branchial crests on each side. Some of these Halithec:e have none of this tow-like material on the back(l): one species-.!ip/w. hystrix, Sav.(2), is found in the seas of Europe. A second subdivision of the Aphroditc:e is that of the PoLYNoE, Sav.-EuMoLPE, Oken. Where there is none of this tow on the back; they have five tentacula, and their proboscis is furnished with strong and horny jaws. Several small species are found on the coasts of France(3). (1) They are the HalitMes hermiones of Savigny, of which M. de Blainville has made his genus HERMIONE, (2) Littoral de la .France, Annel., pl. i, f, 1-9. (3) .llphr. squamata, Pall., Misc., Zool., VIJ, 14; Littor., de Ia Fr., Anne!., pl. i, f. 10-16;-Polyn. kvis, Aud., and Edw., lb., pl. ii, f. 11-18;-.Bphr. punctata, Mull., Ver., XUI;-Aphr. cirrhosa, Pall., Misc. Zool., Vffi, 3-6;-.Bphr.lepidota, ld:, lb., 1, 2;-.llphr. clava, Montag., Lin. Trans., IX, vii, which is at least closely a~hedto the.!lphr.plana, Mull., Ver., XIX;-Polynoe impatiens, Sav., Eg., Annel., P · 3, f. 2;-Poly. muricata, Id., lb., f. 1. |