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For decades, inputs of nutrients and organic matter into the Mar Menor coastal lagoon have favored the change from an original oligotrophic to a eutrophic state. The lagoon reached a stage of severe eutrophication and “environmental collapse” during the spring of 2016. This paper describes the massive growth of Serpulidae (Annelida, Polychaeta) forming large aggregations and reef structures after the environmental collapse caused by the eutrophic crisis. Four species belonging to the genera Hydroides and Serpula were identified; the identified species are Hydroides elegans, Hydroides dianthus, Serpula concharum, and Serpula vermicularis. The presence of bi-operculate and tri-operculate specimens is also documented in this study.

In 2018 an excavation of 20 × 20 m large and up to 5 m thick calcareous clays of the Langhian age was found. Rich and diversified assemblages of foraminifers with species Orbulina suturalis Brön. and Martinotiella karreri (Cush.) indicate early Badenian (in sense of the Central Paratethys regional stratigraphy) age of the sediments, zone M5b sensu Berggren et al. (1995). Variously deformed lenses and layers of fine-grained sand with several blocks of white calcareous silts and with two layers of clayey sediments with pebbles were found. The identified outcrop is part of a large landslide situated at the western margin of the Carpathian Foredeep. Samples determining the age of the landslide movements were taken from Badenian clays and from slope sediments with pebbles for study of palynomorphs. Very rich and diversified fauna was described mainly from the fine-grained sand creating layers in calcareous clays. The assemblage contained tests of foraminifers, spines of the echinoids, fragments of sponge spicules, rich fragments of molluscs and zoarias of bryozoas, worms – Ditrupa cornea (Linnaeus, 1758), Serpula sp., ?Serpulidae indet., fragments of brachiopods, arthropods, coral, ostracods, teleostei etc.The findings from the Badenian and Quaternary periods were mixed by slope movements. Large landslide in the Middle Pleistocene was the terminal gravity proces in the area of Viničné Šumice.

The rich Cenomanian assemblage of tube-dwelling polychaete worms of the families Sabellidae and Serpulidae from Le Mans region (Sarthe) is described in detail for the first time in one place; the systematics and the palaeoecology of the species are discussed. The 19 species described belong to 12 genera: Glomerula Brunnich Nielsen, 1931; Filograna Berkeley, 1835; Protula Risso, 1826; Filogranula Langerhans, 1884; Serpula Linnaeus, 1758; Cementula Brunnich Nielsen, 1931; Neovermilia Day, 1961; Dorsoserpula Parsch, 1956; Mucroserpula Regenhardt, 1961; Placostegus Philippi, 1844; Cycloplacostegus Jager, 2005; Pyrgopolon de Montfort, 1808. Two new species are described: Serpula? pseudoserpentina sp. nov. and Pyrgopolon (Septenaria) cenomanensis sp. nov.

Fungi are often inconspicuous in nature and this means it is all too easy to overlook their importance. Often referred to as the “Forgotten Kingdom”, fungi are key components of life on this planet. The phylum Basidiomycota, considered to contain the most complex and evolutionarily advanced members of this Kingdom, includes some of the most iconic fungal species such as the gilled mushrooms, puffballs and bracket fungi. Basidiomycetes inhabit a wide range of ecological niches, carrying out vital ecosystem roles, particularly in carbon cycling and as symbiotic partners with a range of other organisms. Specifically in the context of human use, the basidiomycetes are a highly valuable food source and are increasingly medicinally important. In this review, seven main categories, or ‘roles’, for basidiomycetes have been suggested by the authors: as model species, edible species, toxic species, medicinal basidiomycetes, symbionts, decomposers and pathogens, and two species have been chosen as representatives of each category. Although this is in no way an exhaustive discussion of the importance of basidiomycetes, this review aims to give a broad overview of the importance of these organisms, exploring the various ways they can be exploited to the benefit of human society.

Nine specimens of sabellid and serpulid worms which had been figured by Dr. Antonin Fric in his series of publications on the strata of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin and which are kept in the collection of the National Museum in Prague are re-described, re-figured, re-determined and discussed in detail. The specimens belong to seven species: Glomerula serpentina (GOLDFUSS), Glomerula plexus (J. DE C. SOWERBY), Filograna socialis (GOLDFUSS), Neovermilia cf. ampullacea (J. DE C. SOWERBY), Dorsoserpula wegneri (JAGER), Dorsoserpula conjuncta (GEINITZ)?, and Serpulidae gen. et sp. indet. In addition, those species and specimens mentioned but not figured by Dr. Antonin Fric are listed and partially discussed although these specimens had not been found in the collection and are presumably lost. Sabellidae, Serpulidae, Glomerula, Filograna, Dorsoserpula, Neovermilia, Serpula, Dr. Antonin Fric, Bohemian Cretaceous Basin Received October 6, 2013 Issued December, 2013

Se han identificado las colecciones de poliquetos de la familia Serpulidae (Annelida) recolectados en las campañas oceanográficas de Fauna Ibérica, las cuales se encuentran depositadas en el Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales de Madrid (MNCN), en el marco del Proyecto Fauna Ibérica. Se estudiaron algo más de 100 muestras, que fueron recolectadas en el ámbito íbero-balear desde profundidades someras hasta más de 700 m de profundidad. Se han identificado un total de 24 especies pertenecientes a 15 géneros; se han observado algunas anomalías morfológicas, como por ejemplo características intermedias entre dos especies de Serpula o quimeras bioperculadas en Hydroides. También se ha profundizado en el estudio de los complejos de géneros Apomatus-Protula y Filograna-Salmacina.

A redescription of the poorly known species Serpula israelitica Amoureux, 1977 from the central Mediterranean is given, using both traditional and new systematic characters. Morphological traits are compared and contrasted with other Mediterranean Serpula species to understand their interrelationships. The distribution, ecology and life history of S. israelitica are also discussed. The species belongs to a unique group of serpulids that settle not on hard substrates but on sandy to muddy bottoms from shelf to upper slope, where they exhibit a free-living habit. Mainly empty tubes are found, most of which are detached anterior/distal parts, occasionally closed off at their posterior/proximal damaged end by a mineralized tabula, a transverse internal tube structure ensuring protection to the animal inside its broken tube. Hypotheses on different functional adaptations to counteract sinking in other soft-bottom serpulids are given.

Animal-sediment relationships of two benthic communities (Crustaceans and Polychaetes) were studied around Mandvi coast in the Gulf of Kachchh, Western India. This coast consists of many micro-geomorphic landforms in which benthic communities are inhabited and select their niches and produce endemic biogenic structures. Five intertidal subfacies have been described and four types of grounds are identified, based on substrate consistency. 18 species of crustaceans, 15 species of polychaetes and unsegmented worm nemertea have been identified. Crustacean behavioural activities were observed in dunes, beaches and ridge-runnel in the form of burrowing, pellet making, feeding and crawling traces. Pelleted wall lining burrows of the suspension feeder stomatopodean species of Oratosquilla striata are also abundant in runnels. Motile, deposit feeder polychaetes are abundant on the ridges and are occasionally found on the lower reaches of the beaches, while suspension and filter feeders are found in the runnels. Lagoons consist of mainly grouped funnel branched burrows of Oniphus eremita which is identical to ichnogenus Balanoglossites. Nemertea, which are opportunistic algal grazers, have exploited restricted niches for dwelling-feeding purposes and constructed vertical burrow with pentamerous conical mound. The shore platform consists of cemented, calcareous tubes of filter feeder Serpula along with symbiotic encrusters like Ostrea and barnacles. Ichnocoenoses are discussed and three-dimensional ichno-sedimentologic models are reconstructed for Beach, Ridge, Runnel and Lagoon of the Mandvi intertidal zone.

Tube structure, ultrastructure and mineralogy support serpulid affinities of the problematic worm fossil ‘Serpula’etalensis from the Lower Jurassic of Germany. The original tube mineralogy of ‘Serpula’etalensis is purely aragonitic and is preserved in Upper Pliensbachian specimens from eastern Germany. ‘Serpula’etalensis represent the earliest record of aragonitic mineralogy for serpulids. The tube is formed of irregularly oriented prismatic crystals that are 3–6 µm in length and 0.5–1.0 µm in diameter. Calcitic specimens of ‘Serpula’etalensis from Upper Sinemurian of southwestern Germany were recrystallized during the diagenesis and lack the original tube ultrastructure.

Representatives of the families Serpulidae and Sabellidae from the Upper Callovian of the locality Peski (Moscow Region) are described in accordance with the current state of supraspecific systematics. Species of the genera Cycloserpula, Filogranula, Tetraserpula, and Metavermilia are revised. One of the genera, Cycloserpula, which was previously assigned to the family Serpulidae, is transferred to the family Sabellidae. A new replacement name, Metavermilia goldfussi nom. nov., is proposed for the species that was previously described as Serpula tricarinata Goldfuss, 1831.

Generalist parasites may disproportionately use certain hosts because of different benefits associated with each host species. I measured the growth rate of the marine snail Trichotropis cancellata, a facultative kleptoparasite that can suspension feed and steal food, on different hosts to determine the relative nutritional benefits of each host. The variation in tentacle (feeding structure) area among the hosts studied had the potential to provide parasitic snails with different amounts of nutrition for growth. In field experiments, suspension-feeding snails isolated from potential hosts grew at a similar rate to snails on brachiopods and significantly more slowly than snails on the following polychaete worms: Serpula columbiana (Serpulidae), Pseudopotamilla ocellata (Sabellidae), Schizobranchia insignis (Sabellidae), and Eudistylia vancouveri (Sabellidae). However, choice among worm hosts affected snail growth rates only in the fall, when phytoplankton levels are low. At this time, snails parasitizing the sabellids Schizobranchia and Eudistylia grew more quickly than snails on Serpula. In the spring and summer, with high levels of phytoplankton, Trichotropis grew at similar rates on all worm species tested. Trichotropis spent approximately the same time stealing food from each worm host species, >50% of the time the worms had their tentacles extended (the difference among hosts was not significant). This finding demonstrates that the similarity of snail growth rates on different worm species is not due to the snails compensating for poor hosts (worms that provide food at a slower rate) by spending more time stealing food. Snails in choice experiments preferred live Serpula to empty Serpula tubes, indicating that at least some of the cue(s) snails use to identify hosts are derived from living host tissues. In choice racks containing live Serpula and live Schizobranchia, snails did not choose one host worm significantly more often than the other. Because Trichotropis grows faster on sabellids than serpulids in the fall, I predicted that snails in nature would infect sabellids more often than other species. However, snails were usually distributed randomly among host species. In the few cases where the snails showed a significant preference among host species, proportionally more snails were found on serpulids than on sabellids or sabellarids. This study is the first to quantify under natural conditions the growth benefits of a kleptoparasite across the range of possible hosts, and implies that factors other than growth rate influence host choice specificity in the marine kleptoparasite T. cancellata.

The reproductive cycles of the serpulid polychaetes Pomatoceros lamarckii (Quatrefages, 1865, as Vermilia) and P. triqueter (Linnaeus, 1767, as Serpula triquetra) were studied by histological examination during 1999 and 2000 at Bantry Bay, south-west Ireland. Gametogenesis, sex ratios and hermaphroditism were also investigated. The male/female ratio in P. lamarckii was approximately equal, but in P. triqueter it deviated significantly in favour of females. There was no significant variation in the sex ratios throughout the year in either species. Results confirm that the species are protandric hermaphrodites. In P. lamarckii, but not in P. triqueter, sexual dimorphism was exhibited in body size, the females being larger than the males of the same species. In both species, the proportion of females increased with increasing body size. Simultaneous hermaphroditism was recorded in P. lamarckii, but not in P. triqueter. There was no clearly defined annual gametogenic cycle in either species. Both species appear to have an extended reproductive season, with numerous small-scale peaks in reproductive maturity that can vary annually. Spawning was broadly synchronous between sexes. Visual observation alone (i.e. without histology) was insufficient to accurately assess reproductive condition in individuals not in, or close to, a ripe state.

Hydrothermal vents and methane seeps sustain unique ecosystems with a highly adapted fauna that largely thrives on chemotrophic endosymbionts. This large biomass attracts not only predators but also parasitic taxa like the recently reported oophagous bivalve Acesta bullisis Vokes, 1963 that lives permanently attached to a vestimentiferan tube worm (Jarnegren et al., 2005). Here I report large brachiopods of the Early Cretaceous seep-restricted genus Peregrinella Oehlert, in Fischer, 1887 that were infested by polychaete tubes inside their shells during their lifetime. Many Paleozoic and Mesozoic vent and seep communities were dominated by brachiopods, yet their ecologic role in these ecosystems remains elusive (Campbell and Bottjer, 1995b; Campbell and Bottjer, 1995a; Sandy, 1995; Peckmann et al., 2007). Several of these brachiopod taxa appear to be endemic to vents and seeps, and their mass occurrence combined with their often large size makes the analogue to chemosymbiotic bivalves like modern Calyptogena Dall, 1891 or Bathymodiolus Kenk and Wilson, 1985 an attractive hypothesis. However, chemosymbiosis has never been demonstrated for brachiopods found at Recent vents or seeps (Campbell and Bottjer, 1995a; Barry et al., 1996; Zezina, 2000), thus from a uniformitarian point of view, chemosymbiosis in extinct brachiopods is doubtful. The dimerelloid rhynchonellid Peregrinella is the largest Mesozoic brachiopod, with a diameter exceeding 10 cm, and it has been found exclusively in Early Cretaceous hydrocarbon seep deposits ranging from North America to Europe and Tibet (Campbell and Bottjer, 1995b; Gaspard, 1999; Campbell, 2006). Peregrinella often co-occurs with serpulid tubes (‘ Serpula recta ’; see Campbell and Bottjer [1995b] for a compilation), but such tubes have never been described from the interior of the shell. Several authors made serial grindings or thin sections of Peregrinella (i.e., Biernat, 1957; Sun, 1986; Posenato and Morsilli, 1999) in which …

We examined the epibionts on 98 legal male Tanner crabs (Chionoecetes bairdi) of varying, known shell ages, which were tagged in the region of Kodiak Island, Alaska, and recovered in the commercial fishery. We found 39 species or collective taxa of organisms on C. bairdi, a conservative estimate of the number of species involved. Seven species or collective taxa occurred on the exposed outer surface of ≥50% of all crabs examined: Alcyonidium sp., Balanus spp., a tube-dwelling amphipod, Spirorbis spp., Serpula spp., a lichenoporid bryozoan, and the fungus Trichomaris invadens.At least 12 species occurred in the branchial chamber. Of these, Triticella sp., Alcyonidiumsp., and mucoid-tube polychaetes were found in ≥50% of 25 branchial cavities examined. Three species (Triticella sp.; a small, white flatworm; and Hiatella arctica) were found only in the branchial chamber. Our data showed trends of increasing frequency of occurrence and increasing mean number of epibionts with increasing shell age. Crab-shell age was a significant factor in determining the number of epibiotic species on crabs; the area of origin was not a significant factor. Epibionts are likely to be of limited use as a management tool, because of difficulties in accurately assessing the age composition of commercial samples and the likelihood of temporal and geographic variation in recruitment of epibiont organisms. However, epibionts are probably a significant factor in the population dynamics of C. bairdi and, hence, worthy of further investigation.

We document a remarkable abundance of the tubeworm Serpula vermicularis Linnaeus, 1767, in bathyal coral habitats from the Bari Canyon System in the southern Adriatic Sea. Here, the specimens of S. vermicularis grow from muddy substrate either as isolated individuals or as localized clusters of multiple individuals. Peculiar tube aggregations are also associated with Madrepora oculata build-ups and other stony corals including Desmophyllum dianthus. Three types of coral-serpulid (C-S) frameworks have been recognized based upon size and shape. The abundance of S. vermicularis increases with the size of C-S frameworks, which results from superimposition, overgrowth, and/or intergrowth of scleractinians and serpulids. Several generations of S. vermicularis contribute to the C-S frameworks, each most probably accounting for more than 8 years and presumably existing in the area for the last hundreds of years. At a meso-scale, the distribution pattern of serpulids seems to be mainly governed by currents and siltation. A further constraint is the co-occurring solitary coral D. dianthus within frameworks. The successful sea-bottom colonization by S. vermicularis and associated C-S frameworks is possibly related to a high oxygen content and food supply derived from the North Adriatic Dense Water (NAdDW). The flourishing populations of S. vermicularis as well as the peculiarity of C-S frameworks suggest that deep-sea canyons provide important benthic habitats in bathyal environments. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Four different tube ultrastructures were identified in the eight studied Jurassic serpulid species. The simple prismatic structure of single layered Serpula aff. convoluta and Tetraserpula planorbiformis, and the spherulitic prismatic structure of outer tube layer in S. aff. trigona are interpreted as the original tube ultrastructures. The fine homogeneous granular structure in Mucroserpula quinquangularis, Serpula conformis, S. limata, S. aff. subcrispa, S. aff. trigona and coarse angular crystal homogeneous structure in Filogranula tricristata are interpreted as diagenetically altered structures. The diagenetically altered tube ultrastructure is common in the Jurassic serpulids, which can be explained by their original aragonitic or dominantly aragonitic composition. There is no evidence of complex oriented tube ultrastructures in the Jurassic, such as calcitic lamello-fibrillar structure, which may have evolved later in the Cretaceous or early Cenozoic.

Capulus subcompressus Pelseneer, 1903 (Gastropoda: Capulidae) is a small epibiont gastropod living at Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea) down to 540 m on the calcareous tubes of its unique host, the serpulid Serpula narconensis Baird, 1865. This polychaete forms bush-like aggregates which host a rich microfauna of crustaceans, hydroids and molluscs. In contrast to all other capulids, C. subcompressus shows an evident oval shell aperture, which is due to an allometric growth that can be imputed to the Serpula tube morphology. Since the allometric growth is detectable in all size classes, it could be deduced that the compressed shape of the C. subcompressus shell is the stable result of a significant evolutionary history which binds tightly these two species in Antarctic waters.

A new “reef ” of the serpulid polychaete Serpula narconensis Baird, 1885 is reported from the South Georgia Island shelf. This particular mass occurrence is the second serpulid “reef” reported in the Antarctic region. Its location, at 91- to 105-m depth, is very different from those serpulid reefs previously reported, usually sited at intertidal zone or at low depth, and this may be one of the largest, if not the largest, serpulid reef in the world., SI

Tubiform fossils conventionally referred to Serpula cf. advena Salter and species of Spirorbis Lamarck from the British Lower Limestone Shales and Border Group (Lower Carboniferous) are re-examined. They occur in peritidal carbonate environments of schizohaline aspect. These fossils superficially resemble calcareous polychaete tubes but have skeletal characters, including molluscan wall structure, numerous internal septa, and protoconch, which indicate that they represent a new group of substrate-attached, disjunctly coiled gastropods. They resemble archaeogastropods in internal morphology of the skeleton but show parallels in external form and occurrence with the extant Vermetidae. There are two principal modes of occurrence: (1) erect tubes forming intertidal biostromes associated with non-skeletal algal laminites, and (2) prostrate discoidal tubes encrusting subtidal skeletal stromatolites or occasionally forming larger irregular bioherms. These biostromes and bioherms are comparable in structure to Recent vermetid reef developments.

Chlorocruorin is a dichroic red-green respiratory protein. It is chemically similar to haemo­globin, and is only found dissolved in the blood of certain marine annelid worms. Chlorocruorin is the characteristic blood pigment of the Serpulimorpha (serpulids and sabellids), but in the genusSerpulaboth chlorocruorin and haemoglobin are present together in the blood. This is the first time that two respiratory pigments have been found in the blood of one animal. Young individuals have relatively more haemoglobin, older ones more chlorocruorin. Within the serpulid genusSpirorbis, one species has chlorocruorin in its blood, an other has haemoglobin, while a third has neither pigment. As their habitats are similar, no functional explanation for these differences suggests itself. The oxygen affinity of all chlorocruorins tested is considerably lower than that of most haemoglobins. But inSerpulathe oxygen affinities of the chlorocruorin and haemoglobin are the same as one an other. The carbon monoxide affinity of chlorocruorin (inBranchiomma) is higher than that of any haemoglobin. Although Serpulimorpha have chlorocruorin in their blood, the haem present in their tissues (muscles, eggs, sperm ) is protohaem, not chlorocruorohaem. One genus,Potamilla, with chlorocruorin in its blood, has haem oglobin in the muscles. Chlorocruorin is known only from blood, and from the mucous tube ofMyxicola; none has been found in cells. Coelomic fluid contains none. Protohaem is secreted in to the protective tubes of both serpulids and sabellids. A proto-haemochromogen is present in the gut fluid of serpulids, recalling that found in crustaceans and molluscs.

1. This paper records various observations supplementing, and in some cases correcting previous accounts of the internal structure of the branchial crown in Pomatoceros triqueter, Serpula vermicularis, Hydroides norvegica, Vermiliopsis infundibulum, Salmacina incrustans, Protula intestinum, Spirorbis corrugatus, and Spirorbis militaris. 2. The muscles in the opercular peduncle of Pomatoceros are longitudinal. 3. A single layer of small longitudinal muscle-fibres, of unknown function, has been found on the abfrontal face of the internal branchial and internal peduncular nerves of most of these serpulids. 4. External branchial muscles are well developed in Pomatoceros, reduced in Serpula, Hydroides, Vermiliopsis, and Spirorbis militaris, and apparently absent in Protula and Spirorbis corrugatus. 5. The pinnules of Pomatoceros and Hydroides, like filaments and opercular peduncles, have a double innervation. 6. The internal skeleton of the serpulid crown consists of sheets and strands of connective tissue-fibres and, in the opercula, of a cartilage-like tissue with a ground substance giving the staining reactions of collagen. The serpulid branchial skeleton is compared with that of sabellids, and the chemical nature of these skeletons is discussed. 7. Extensions of the prostomial and peristomial cavities accompany the branchial blood-vessels into the base of the crown, but have no connexion with the cavities in the branches of the crown. The arrangement of the latter is described. The nature of all these cavities, whether coelomic or blastocoelic, is obscure. 8. The ‘palps’ of Pomatoceros, Serpula, Hydroides, and Vermiliopsis closely resemble pinnules. The blood-vessel and nerve of the ‘palp’ of Pomatoceros are branches of those in the adjacent filament. It is suggested that the serpulid ‘palp’ is a modified pinnule.

Calcium carbonate, in a finely granular form, is secreted into the fold of the peristomial collar by a pair of tubulo-racemose glands in the peristomium. Most of the organic material of the tube is secreted by the ventro-lateral epithelial cells which surround the main ducts of the calcium-secreting glands. These cells are always filled with a basiphil mucigen which contains some free a-glycol groups. This material retains its affinity for basic dyes and for ferric iron at a low pH. The affinity for iron is retained when the pH is low enough to exclude carboxyl and phosphoric acid groups from the reaction and it is probable that the sulphuric acid groups are responsible. The reactions of this mucigen to histochemical tests together with the similarity in behaviour of a precipitated heparin preparation make it likely that the material is a sulphomucopolysaccharide.

A new species of the subgenus Solenopora (Neosolenopora) is described from upper Eocene, yellow-green, sandy-Micaceous clay filling, a pre-Paleogene excavation in a Precambrian surface at Ingulets, Dnepropetrovsk Province, 'USSR. The new species is Solenopora (Neosolenopora) multiformis. Excellent detail of the thalli is preserved and considerable anatomical and morphological detail is presented The discovery of this form constitutes the third report of Solenopora in the Cenozoic of Western Eurojie. The plants are associated with large nurnbetS of right valves from the pelecypod, Ostrea callifera Lam var. sokolovi Klushn. Other invertebrates associated with algal remains are Spondylus, Serpula and Nummulites. Paleoecological interpretation of the occurrence of the algal remains is given as a rocky shoal inhabited by a biocoenosis of sublittoral habit in depths of not more than 10–20 m. — F. M. Hueber.

Knowing how much you are interested in all inquiries about the drift of this country, we take the liberty to forward to you some specimens of shells which we have lately collected from the cliffs of Sancati Head, in the island of Nautucket. Allow us to accompany them with some observations upon this locality. The cliff of Sancati, as you know, constitutes the eastern border of the island of Nantucket, rising to a height of ninety-two feet above the beach. Although covered in a great measure with the loose sand that is carried by the wind from the beach, yet there are several points where the successive layers are to be seen, as for example near the tripod: fig. 1 will give an idea of their superposition. At the base of the cliff is found a stratum of brown, very brittle and partly sandy clay ( l ), nearly twenty feet thick. Over the rests a bed of gravel several feet thick ( k ), which is overlaid by a stratum of homogenous white sand ( j ). On this is found a layer of very tough clay ( i ), very similar in its aspect to the plastic clay near Paris, except that it contains a great many nodules of ferruginous sand. This clay-bed is overlaid by an oyster-bank ( h ) one foot thick, intermixed and covered by large masses of Serpula ( g ), which are, like the oysters, in their natural position. There are besides a great many other shells scattered through this bank, all of them in

SUMMARYThe pigments in the crowns of a number of sabellids and serpulids have been examined. The main pigments of sabellid crowns are ommochromes, but these pigments have not been found in serpulids. Both sabellids and serpulids also possess astaxanthin, and in Serpula, Protula and the sabellid Chone infundibuliformis it is to this pigment or an ester that the colour of the crown is due. The main carotenoids have been identified and the presence of a possible intermediate ketocarotenoid in amounts varying from one species to another suggests that the astaxanthin or astaxanthin ester is synthesized by the worms from carotene derived from the food. Pomatoceros has pink and blue pigments, and Galeolaria a similar grey-blue pigment which could not be identified with any known class of pigment. Neither these nor ommochromes have previously been found in annelids.

In Erle KAUFFMAN’s view, which has brought so much new air into the stagnant Posidonia Shale discussion, “shell islands” acted as outposts for benthic life on an otherwise uninhabitable mud bottom. Of the potential islands, vertebrate bones and belemnite rostra became available only after soft part disintegration. They never show epibionts. The remaining substrates — driftwood and ammonite shells — could become colonized also while they were still afloat. The following observations regard this distinction: 1. Uneven colonization: In monospecific ammonite clusters, overgrowth contrasts in degree and kind from one shell to the other. 2. Substrate selectivity: None of the epibionts occurs with similar frequency on all substrates. Inoceramus, Seirocrinus and gooseneck barnacles occur almost exclusively on drift wood, Orbiculoidea, oysters (2 kinds) and byssus-attached bivalves other than Inoceramus (Pectinids, Limids, Bakevelliids, Monotids), only on ammonite shells. Even more specific, Serpula has been found only on Harpoceras and Nautilus, which also carries bryozoa. This selectivity holds true even if wood and ammonite shells are now closely associated on the same bedding plane. 3. Equal encrustation on both flanks: Right and left side of the examined ammonites never differ significantly with respect to kinds, sizes, distribution and numbers of encrusters (Ostrea, Exogyra, Serpula), suggesting simultaneous rather than subsequent colonization. 4. Unequal distribution around ambitus: In contrast to the encrusters, byssusattached pelecypods (Gervillia, Plagiostoma, Pectinids) on Lythoceras are significantly accumulated on the side that faced down in the swimming or floating cephalopod shell. This is also true for one Harpoceras specimen with Inoceramus. 5. Slope orientation: While oysters and serpulids fail to show preferred orientations, 177 Orbiculoidea on the flank of a large Lythoceras are statistically aligned conforming with the swimming position of the host shell.

Serpula, a marine annelid worm, is the only animal known to possess two respiratory pigments in its blood, namely, chlorocruorin and haemoglobin1.

Mr. H. Bauerman having requested me to examine a series of typical specimens of the Nummulitic rocks brought by him from the East, I append the following remarks on eight specimens, including a Strontian crystal, containing some Nummulites and other organisms, from near Cairo. Specimen No. 1. “S. of Wady Gharandel, 7 April, 1868.” (Greyish brown asphaltic Nummulitic limestone, weathering white.) Mainly composed of Nummulitic Ghyzensis *, large and small, with N. curvispira and N. Ramondi . Serpula present. No. 2. “Asphalt rock, S. of Wady Gharandel, 7 April.” Like No. 1, but browner. Contains N. Ghyzensis (large and small), pieces of Conchifera, and small fragments of Echinoderms. Serpula also is present. No. 3. “Asphalt Rock, S. of Wady Gharandel, 7 April.” Lightbrown rock (weathering white), in which Nummulina Ghyzensis is abundantly visible throughout, together with Serpulœ and some fragments of Echinoderms. No. 4. “Asphalt Rock, S. of Wady Gharandel, 7 April.” A piece of thin-bedded (–inch) light-brown limestone, weathering grey on the planes of bedding, and there showing its granular structure and the organic fragments of which it is mainly composed. On one face is a small Ostrea , with Nummulina Ramondi . N. intermedia and pieces of Pecten (?) and of Echinoderms are seen in the mass. No. 5. “Asphalt Rock, near Gharandel, 7 April.” No definite organic remains are visible in this brown rock. It has the darkest colour of all the specimens. By treatment with acid, it is found to contain 90 per cent. of carbonate of lime and 10 per

AUTOCHTHONOUS patch reefs, bioherms and biostromes composed of calcareous-tubed serpulids occur in the Lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian) Lower Border Group of Cumberland and Roxburghshire. Serpulid colonies on this scale were previously unknown in the geological record. Living reefs, from a lagoon in Co. Galway, Eire, have only recently been discovered1 although dead reefs are common in Baffin Bay, Texas2,3. Some of the Carboniferous serpulid horizons were originally discovered by Garwood4 who briefly referred to them as “worm beds” and assigned the tubes to Serpula cf. advena Salter. All the serpulid tubes are calcitic, show concentric microstructure identical to that of recent serpulids, and have small internal diameters (0.5–3.5 mm); an unusual feature is thin septae dividing the tubes (Fig. 3), structures unknown in recent serpulids and which necessitate a complete taxonomic revision.

The part of the Bathgate limestone which has been most extensively worked of late is at the north end of the range of workings called Petershill Quarries, and the upper 40 feet of the limestone. A great variety of corals and shells, and at least three species of palatal teeth of fish, occur in it. Besides many others, I obtained specimens of the following:—Lithodendron junceum, Lithostrotion basaltiforme (?), Serpula parallela, Productus aculeatus, Productus giganteus, Productus scabriculus, Pinna flabelliformis, Pinna spatula, Cardiomorpha orbicularis, Edmondia sulcata, Dentalium ingens, Euomphalus Dionysii, Euomphalus pentangulatus, Euomphalus anguis, Naticopsis dubia, Natica elongata, Pleurotomaria Yvanii, Cochliodus magnus, Petalodus Hastingsiae.