Occurrence of Saccocirrus in Western Canada

Abstract

THERE appears to be no record of the occurrence of any member of the Archiannelida from the west coast of North America; indeed any records outside Europe seem to be rare. It is therefore of interest to note the appearance of enormous quantities of a Saccocirrus at Departure Bay, B.C., during the past month. They were first found at a point marking the entrance to the bay from the open Strait of Georgia in the surface layer of a rather coarse sandbed at the low limit of a low spring tide on April 23. At this time they were so thick in the sand that every cubic inch contained a hundred or so individuals. Mature representatives of both sexes were present. On April 25 there did not seem to be so many, but this may have been due to the fact that the tide did not reach so low a mark. The appearance is the more interesting in that I have visited the beach on which the Saccocirrus was found at the low tides in April, more or less regularly, for the past fifteen years or so, and, to the best of my knowledge, it was never present before.