A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia (Volume 1 of 2): The Lepadidae; Or, Pedunculated CirripedesDarwin, Charles
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A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia (Volume 1 of 2): The Lepadidae; Or, Pedunculated Cirripedes
Darwin, Charles
Cirripedia; Lepadidae
I have examined one specimen of the hermaphrodite _I. quadrivalvis_,
preserved in spirits from Kangaroo Island, and one dry from Adelaide,
both places in South Australia, and four from an unknown locality,
purchased from Mr. Sowerby; and within five out of these six specimens,
males were attached. In one of them, two males of different ages were
included, one adhering to the peduncle of the other: in _I. Cumingii_,
also, it may be remembered, there was a case of two males parasitic on
one female. I may add that I opened another quite young specimen, from
Adelaide, not counted with the above, and it was without a male. The
males in the five specimens were attached low down, at the rostral end,
almost in a horizontal position, stretching across the bottom of the
sack; one of them, however, was placed considerably on one side. One
individual which I measured, was 16/100ths of an inch in length, and
5/100ths in width in the widest part, namely, about half down the
peduncle. I may state, for the sake of comparison, that the
hermaphrodite to which this individual was attached, was, including the
peduncle and capitulum, one inch in length, that is, six times as long
as the male, and one fifth of an inch in width, that is, four times as
wide. The above measurements show that the male of this species is
rather more than twice as large as that of _I. Cumingii_. In consequence
of this greater size, I dissected, with the utmost care, the one
specimen which was excellently preserved in spirits, and found every
part, with a few exceptions, so exactly the same as in the male of _I.
Cumingii_, only larger and more conspicuous, that it will be sufficient
to indicate the few points of difference.
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