The Synonymy of the Viviparous Polychaete Neantbes lighti Hartman (1938) with Nereis limnicola

Nereis limnicola was described by Johnson (1903) from the fresh-water Lake Merced in San Francisco, California. Since that time no reports of its occurrence have been published. Hartman (1938) noted that the boundaries and bed of the lake have been "a ltered by dredging and roadbuilding operations , and that what was once the type locality of Nereis limnicola now lies many feet below a road bed." In 1938 Hartman described N eanthes lighti from small estuaries on the coast of Marin and Sonoma counties to the north of San Francisco , and from pools described as fresh along the Russian River. In this paper Hartman mentions N. limnicola, but does not discuss the possibility of the two forms being synonymous. Later she has stated (Light et al., 1954: 88) that N lighti "may prove to be N ereis limnicola . . . ." In 1941, N lighti was found to be viviparous by Dr. Marian Pettibone (reported by Hartman, 1944: 252), and an account of its embryology has been given by Smith (1950). Since viviparity and the ability to live in fresh water are rare among polychaetes, and since N lighti seems to offer excellent experimental material , it is important that its identity be clearly established . In recent years, reports of the existence of fresh-water nereids in Lake Merced have reached us, and search revealed them . A viviparous nereid answering the descriptions of N limnicola and N lighti has been found in abundance in a sandy beach on the northern shore of the northern part of what was originally the single lake. The type locality