^C. torquata.^ Body long, composed of twenty-two segments; the
fifth segment has a collar-like fold; the caudal extremity is
funnel-shaped and edged with papillæ; both [pg184] the first and
the last three segments are bare, the rest have short bristles
above and hooks below; head has a prominent convex plate with a
raised border; worm pale red, with bright-red bands around the
segments, sometimes brownish. It constructs nearly straight tubes
of pure sand close to low-water mark in sheltered coves, and ranges
from New Jersey northward.
GENUS ^Maldane^
^M. elongata.^ Six to eight inches long, one eighth to one quarter
of an inch in diameter; body cylindrical, cut obliquely at both
ends; head bordered by a slight fold; color brown, with red blood
showing through. Found in sandy mud at low-water mark, in firm,
deep tubes of fine mud, on the New England coast.
FAMILY ~ARENICOLIDÆ~
GENUS ^Arenicola^
^A. marina.^ Five to ten inches long; brownish-green; body
cylindrical, thickest on the anterior end; anterior and posterior
ends without chætæ; twelve to thirteen pairs of branched red gills
on the central segments. It makes burrows eighteen to twenty-four
inches deep on sandy southern shores, and can be traced by castings
at the mouth of the burrow. Commonly known as "lugworm," and used
by fishermen for bait.
FAMILY ~SABELLIDÆ~
In this family the gills arise from two semicircular bases forming
the crown; the second lobe of the anterior extremity is reversed like
a collar; the gill-filaments have secondary processes, and the tubes
are flexible, composed of cemented mud or sand. Found under stones,
the tube passing around the stone and opening upward.
GENUS ^Sabella^
^S. microphthalma.^ Length of tube one and a quarter inches,
diameter one eighth of an inch; body olive-green, specked with
white; wreath of tentacles half as long as the body; tentacles pale
yellowish or flesh-colored, with transverse lines of darker color.
It is found on the southern New England coast.
FAMILY ~SERPULIDÆ~
This family forms white calcareous tubes. One of the dorsal
gill-filaments is flattened, forming an operculum, or cover, with
[pg185] which the tube is closed when the worm has withdrawn itself
inside. The tubes are commonly found attached to shells and rocks,
usually solitary, but sometimes in clusters, crossing and recrossing
each other on the surface of the shell or rock. Plume-like gills
are attached to the anterior end of the body. The color differs
in different species. These worms may easily be mistaken for the
mollusks /Vermetus/, which live in similar tubes of larger size,
growing in masses.
GENUS ^Serpula^
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