On Some Recent Results with the Towing Net on the South Coast of Ireland *

Abstract

1.— MitrariaONLY a single specimen was obtained of the little Mitraria, - which formed the subject of the present communication, and neither its structure nor development was made out as completely as could have been wished. From the Mediterranean species described in a former communication (British Association Report for 1872), it differs in some points of structure and in the mode of annulation of the developing worm. It possesses the usual Mitraria form, that of a hemispherical dome having its base encircled by a band of long vibratile cilia. In the side of the dome a little above the ciliated band is the mouth which leads into a rather wide pharynx clothed with a ciliated epithelium. The pharynx runs through the dome parallel to its base and opens into a capacious stomach which continues in the same direction until it joins the intestine. This then turns down abruptly at right angles to the previous portion of the alimentary canal, and then projects for a slight distance beyond the base of the dome, carrying with it hernia-like the walls of the base.