Gas accretion in NGC 3656 (Arp 155)

We study the gas distribution in the recent merger remnant NGC 3656, a perturbed elliptical. The total gaseous mass content is a few times 10(9)M(.). The galaxy contains comparable amounts of atomic and molecular hydrogen. Roughly 90% of the gas mass lies at or near the prominent minor axis dust lane of the galaxy. There are also strong indications of an H I extension to the south, which projects onto a luminosity condensation bound by a prominent optical shell. Most likely, the galaxy is still accreting gas from the southern extension. This system may be a precursor of polar ring or shell galaxies such as Cen A. (C) 1996 American Astronomical Society.