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A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia (Volume 1 of 2)

Note 17 — Class—CRUSTACEA. Sub-Class—CIRRIPEDIA.

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I am compelled to differ greatly from the account given by Prof. Steenstrup of the reproductive system in the Cirripedia, in his ‘Untersuchungen über das Vorkommen des Hermaphroditismus, ch. v, 1846;—a translation of which I have seen, owing to the great kindness of Mr. Busk. Mr. Goodsir has described (‘Edin. New Phil. Journal,’ July 1843,) what he considers the male of Balanus; but I have seen this same parasitic creature charged with ova, including larvæ! From the resemblance of the larvæ to the little crustacean described by Mr. Goodsir, in the same paper, as a distinct parasite, I believe the latter to be the male of his so-called male Balanus, and that all belong to the same species, allied to Bopyrus. This genus, as is well known, is parasitic on other crustacea; and it is a rather interesting fact thus to find, that this new parasite which is allied to Bopyrus, in structure, is likewise allied to it in habits, living attached to Cirripedia, a sub-class of the crustacea.

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