During the course of a hydrobiological survey of Monterey Bay, California, a series of pelagic organisms was taken at a depth of approximately 350 M., which appears to be a link connecting the Echiuroidea (Gephyrea armata) on the one hand and the polychaetes on the other. The range in body length is from 5 mm. to 27 mm.; and in an extended condition the anterior end of the body, with its palps and cirri, bears a close resemblance to a nereid. The supra-oesophageal ganglia and the ventral nerve cord, with eleven pairs of ganglia, are also strikingly annelidan in character. On the other hand, the spacious coelom, communicating with the exterior by a pair of anterior nephridia, allies it with the gephyreans. The same is likewise true of the gonad, which arises from the coelomic epithelium surrounding the genital vessel. The various systems are described in detail, and their resemblances to those of other annelids are indicated. This new species, Poeobius meseres, is made the representative of a new family, the Poeobiidae, which, provisionally at least, is included in the Echiuroidea.
