jgafeiBBia

i?^?m

Library
of the

University of Toronto

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2017 with funding from
University of Toronto

https://archive.org/details/historyofbritish00forb_0

A HISTORY

OF

BRITISH STARFISHES.

A HISTORY

OF

BRITISH STARFISHES,

AND OTHER ANIMALS OF THE CLASS

ECHINODERMATA.

By EDWARD FORBES, M.W. S. For. Sec. B. S. etc.

ILLUSTRATED BY WOODCUTS.

LONDON:

JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW;

MDCCCXLI.

LONDON !

PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,

Bangor House, Shoe Lane.

PROFESSOR AGASSIZ

IN ADMIRATION OF HIS SCIENTIFIC LABOURS,

AND IN GRATITUDE FOR THE SERVICES HE HAS RENDERED TO

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITAIN,

THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED

BY

A BRITISH NATURALIST.

.

'

PREFACE.

This History of the British species of a much neglected
but beautiful and interesting class of animals originated
in an attempt to revise the characters of such Starfishes
as inhabit the Irish Sea, and to introduce the generic
arrangements proposed by Professor Agassiz, which I
laid before the Wernerian Society, with the approbation
of its distinguished president, Professor Jameson, and
which was published in 1839 in the eighth volume of its
Transactions. Without the kind assistance of my brother
naturalists, the materials for the following pages could not,
however, have been gathered. To my friend Mr. John
Goodsir I am especially indebted for assistance and ad-
vice. From Mr. Thompson of Belfast a great portion of
my information has been derived ; and the materials which
he had been collecting for several years, in order to prepare
an account of the Irish species, were most liberally, and
without reserve, placed in my hands, as were, also, with
like kindness, Mr. Robert Ball’s collections for an account
of the Echinidse. In Scotland I have derived most valu-
able aid from Professor Jameson, Dr. Johnston of Berwick,

Vlll

PREFACE.

and Dr. P. Maclagan; in England from Mr. Alder, Mr. Bean
of Scarborough, Mr. Bellamy of Plymouth, and Mr. Gray
of the British Museum, and from many other gentlemen
in both countries, and in the sister island, whose assistance
I have recorded in the text. In Dublin Captain Portlock
most liberally permitted me to examine the Ordnance col-
lection. To all these gentlemen I return my fervent
thanks, also to Professor Agassiz, who most kindly per-
mitted me to make use of the notes he had made on the
British collections of these animals during his last visit to
our country.

Nor must I forget favours of the pencil. To my friend
Mr. G. J. Bell the volume is indebted for some of its most
interesting embellishments : Mr. Alder and Mr. Thomp-
son have also contributed to the ornamental part. The
wood-cutting speaks for itself, — thanks to Mr. Bastin, who
in the most praiseworthy manner made himself acquainted
not merely with the drawings, but with the texture and
appearance of the animals themselves, in order the better
to express them.

With three exceptions the figures of species are from
my own drawings, and with a view to secure correctness
were mostly drawn on the wood by myself. In the text
I have endeavoured faithfully to do justice to preceding
writers, and rarely have quoted a synonym which I have
not myself verified. I have endeavoured to bring the
subject as near as possible to the present state of science,
and trust that few memoirs essential to my purpose have
escaped me. I should have wished to have made more

PREFACE.

IX

use than I have done of the valuable papers on the Echi-
nidee by M. Desmoulins, but could lay hands on a portion
of them only. Since I commenced the publication two
papers have appeared which I must notice, as they add
several to my enumeration of the synonyms of the Star-
fishes. The one is a Memoir by one of the greatest living
physiologists, Muller of Berlin, on the genera of the Star-
fishes, read before the Berlin Academy in April 1840.
This paper must he praised on account of the excellent
way in which the characters of the genera are drawn up.
The chief novelty is the employment of the anus of Star-
fishes (or anal pore) as a source of family distinction, which
aperture Muller describes as existing in all Starfishes saving
Asterias proper, and a new genus, Hemichemis, which
seems identical with my previously constituted Luidia.
His genus Crossaster, also, is my Solaster, published the
year before. Several generic names previously adopted
by Agassiz and Nardo are wantonly changed ; thus, Uras-
ter is turned into Asterocanthium, and Palmipes into As-
teriscus, with which he unites Asterina. In this paper
Muller maintains that one of the five intermediate inferior
plates of the Ophiuridse bears a madreporiform tubercle,
or rather corresponds to that body, a view which I am not
inclined to adopt.

The other Memoir to which I must allude is one by Mr.
Gray on the Starfishes, which he calls the class Hypostoma,
and defines somewhat ambiguously, published simultane-
ously with my two first numbers, in the Annals of Natural
History. I am afraid I must censure Mr. Gray for chang-

X

PREFACE.

ing names still more than Muller, and with less reason.
It is a pity zoologists do not take a lesson from their fellow
labourers in the field of Nature, the botanists, in this
respect. Mr. Gray has increased the confusion by giving
fragments of descriptions instead of generic and specific
characters, probably from carrying too far a laudable desire
for brevity. His essay deserves praise, however, for re-
cording many new foreign habitats of the beautiful animals
he catalogues.

INTRODUCTION.

The Echinodermata constitute one of the three great
classes into which the Radiata are divided. The radiate
type presents us with animals which either have their parts
arranged in a ray-like manner round a common centre, or
have their bilaterality so modified as to give them a star-
like form. The Zoophytes, the Medusse, and the creatures
to which this volume is devoted, constitute the type. The
Echinodermata are most highly organized, much more so
than the Polypes ; they are almost all free animals, creep-
ing about at the bottom of the sea ; and as the greater
number of species are covered with a coriaceous skin, which
is commonly strengthened by calcareous plates or spines,
they have derived their general appellation from that re-
markable character, which at once distinguishes them from
the Medusa©, free swimming animals of the most delicate
and membranous texture.

Throughout animated Nature forms and structures merge
into each other. While the central groups of a type pre-
sent its essential characters, the more distant families
approach in appearance and habits to the members of some
other great class of forms. This is equally true respecting
small as well as large groups. Thus, the class of Radiata
before us presents examples, at one extreme, of animals
truly symmetrical, and, at the other, of species which ap-
proach either in general form or in their early life to the
Amorphozoa, the lowest of animal types. For example,

Xll

INTRODUCTION.

while the first state of a Oomatula is analogous to a sponge
or a Polypidom, the highest groups of Ecliinodermata are
creatures resembling Mollusca or Annellicla. Correspondent
with the progression of form is the progression of organiz-
ation and of sagacity.

Externally, the majority of Echinodermata are radiated,
and the lowest groups resemble Polypes. The first species
figured in this history is the Feather-star, a creature which
in its youth is fixed and pedunculate, like a Zoophyte ; in
its adult state free and star-like. When dredging in Dub-
lin Bay in August 1840, with my friends Mr. R. Ball and
W. Thompson, we found numbers of the Phytocrinus or
Polype state of the Feather-star, more advanced than they
had ever been seen before, so advanced that we saw the
creature drop from its stem and swim about a true Co-
matula ; nor could we find any difference between it and
the perfect animal, when examining it under the micro-
scope. From the Comat ula we proceed onwards through
forms gradually changing character, until in the Sea-
Urchins we have the true representatives of the Echino-
dermata. In them we have the perfection of an Echino-
dermatous integument. We have arrived, as it were, at
the summit of a pyramid, and we descend through a series
of forms as gradually conducting us to the Mollusca and
the V ermes. The Holothuriadse, which at first have the ap-
pearance of soft Sea-Urchins, gradually change their forms,
and become more and more Molluscan in character. The
Sipunculidse progress in like manner towards the Annel-
lida; and in the animals described last in this volume,
we see Radiata, which have so put on the garb of worms
that by many naturalists they have been classed as such.

Every great class in the animal kingdom, when con-
sidered anatomically or physiologically, may he looked on

INTRODUCTION.

Xlll

as the completing of some organ or function, even as zoolo-
gically it represents the completing of some important
modification of form. In the lowest division of the Radi-
ata, that of Zoophytes, the digestive system has passed
through all its essential changes, therefore we do not see
a true progression of the organs of that system among the
Echinodermata. We find its variations depend rather on
the circumstances under which the species are destined to
live than on any progression of structure. Thus it appears
anomalous at first, that the lowest Echinodermata should
have digestive organs of more complicated nature than
some higher tribes ; that the Feather-star should have an
intestinal canal with two orifices, whilst all the Ophiuridse
and many true Starfishes have but one ; or that the
Splancno-skeleton (dental apparatus) of the Echinidse
should be more highly developed than that of the Holo-
thuriadse ; but looking at the system according to the view
I have taken of its completion in a lower tribe, this is
what we should expect. Not so, however, with all the
functional systems. The respiratory goes through a series
of modifications complicating as we advance, so also do
the circulatory and the nervous. But it is the muscular
which is especially presented in all its essential modifica-
tions in the class before us, from the first appearance of
a contractile tissue, as seen in the granular tissue of
the lowest Echinodermata, to its perfect developement in
the complicated muscular mechanism presented by many
of the V ermigrade species.

The system most characteristic of the Radiate type is
the Aquiferous, or apparatus for a water circulation ; in-
deed, it can scarcely be said to exist in any of the other
types. It is chiefly developed in the Arachnodermata and
Echinodermata, and in the last is intimately connected

XIV

INTRODUCTION.

with the movements of the animals ; for it is by means of
this water circulation that the suckers or cirrhi are enabled
to act as organs of progression. In many species of the
most typical group, that of Echinidse, we find a portion of
the dermato-skeleton turned in, as it were, to form arches
for the protection of the water-canals, thus evidencing their
great importance in those creatures. Among the Annel-
lidous Echinodermata, however, the aquiferous system
seems altogether to disappear.

On the modifications of this characteristic system, its
presence or absence, and its combination with the tegu-
mentary system for purposes of motion, I have founded my
arrangement of the Echinodermata. I look upon the Echi-
nodermata and Arachnodermata as two parallel groups,
and hold it as a law that the divisions of parallel groups
should be based on a common principle. The orders of the
latter class have always been founded on the modifications
of their organs and modes of progression : the orders of
the class before us I have founded on the same consider-
ation, and need only call the attention of the philosophical
zoologist to the naturalness of the divisions so formed, and
to their equidistance from each other, and I feel confident
he will acknowledge the truth of my arrangement.

Order I. Pinnigrada. Crinoide^e — First appearance of cirrhi,
springing from brachial membranes, which, with the
true arms, form the organs of motion.

II. Spinigrada. Ophiurid.e — Disappearance of brachial
membranes, cirrhi as before ; true arms clothed with
spines for motion.

III. Cirrhigrada. Asteriad.® — Arms disappear ; body
more or less lobed, and lobes channeled beneath
for cirrhi, which act as suckers, and are the organs
of motion.

INTRODUCTION.

XV

Order IV. Cirrhi-Spinigrada. Echinid^:— Gradual disappear-
ance of lobes ; cirrhiferous canals appearing as
avenues where cirrhi act as in Order III. but are
assisted by mobile spines clothing the integument.

V. Cirrhi- Vermigrada. Holothuriad^: — Lobes disap-

pear ; motions effected by avenues of cirrhi, assisted
by contraction and extension of the soft body.

VI. Vermigrada. Sipunculhue — Cirrhi become obsolete

and disappear ; motion effected by the contraction
and extension of the animal’s body.

A glance at this arrangement will at once show that it
is most natural. There is nothing novel in it as regards
the constitution of the groups, saving the recognition of the
Ophiuridse as an order equivalent to the other orders ; but
as an explanation of the true nature and relation of the
Echinodermatous tribes, I prefer it to any arrangement at
present used, and have accordingly followed it through-
out this work.

All the Radiata are greatly influenced in the arrangement
of their parts by some definite number. In the Echino-
dermata the reigning number is five. The name of 44 five-
fingers,” commonly applied by mariners to the Starfishes,
is founded on a popular recognition of the number regnant.
It has long been noticed. Among the problems proposed
by that true-spirited but eccentric philosopher, Sir Thomas
Browne, is one, 44 Why, among Sea-stars, Nature chiefly
delighteth in five points 2” and in his Garden of Cyrus
he observes, “By the same number (five) doth Nature
divide the circle of the Sea-star, and in that order and
number disposeth those elegant semicircles or dental sockets
and eggs in the Sea Hedge-hog.” Among the lower and
the typical orders, we find this number regulating the num-
ber of parts. Every plate of the Sea-Urchin is built up of

XVI

INTRODUCTION.

pentagonal particles. The skeletons of the digestive, the
aquiferous, and the tegumentary systems, equally present
the quinary arrangement ; and even the cartilaginous
framework of the disk of every sucker is regulated by this
mystic number. When the parts of Echinoderms deviate
from it, it is always either in consequence of the abortion
of certain organs, or it is a variation by representation , that
is to say, by the assumption of the regnant number of
another class. Thus do monstrous Starfishes and Urchins
often appear quadrate, and have their parts fourfold, as-
suming the reigning number of the Actinodermata, con-
sistent with a law in which I put firm trust, that when
parallel groups vary numerically by representation they vary
by interchange of their respective numbers.

In this short introduction I have rather given the gene-
ralities of the subject than details of structure, for which
I would refer the reader to the excellent account of the
anatomy of Echinodermata given by Professor Jones in
his Outlines of the Animal Kingdom. I shall conclude
by presenting a tabular view of the distribution of our
native species. In the first of the two following tables, the
numbers of species of each family known to inhabit the
several zones of the sea is given ; in the second a view of
their distribution in the various provinces of the British
seas, with such foreign localities as are recorded. I have
divided the marine provinces thus : — I. Thulean, including
the Orkney and Shetland Isles. II. Hebridean. III.
Scottish eastern coast. IV. English eastern coast. V.
English Channel. VI. St. George’s Channel. VII. South-
ern, the district between Land’s End and Cape Clear.
VIII. South-west Irish. IX. North-west Irish. X. The
Clyde province and North Channel. XI. The Irish Sea.

INTRODUCTION.

XVI.!.

I.

Table of Zonal Distribution.

Zones of the Sea.

Crinoidese.

Ophiuridae.

Asteriadae.

Echinidse.

Holothnriadae.

s

r2

3

o

P

P

P

CO

Total.

Littoral ....

0

4

6

3

1

2

16

Laminarian . . .

1

5

6

4

5

6

27

Coralline ....

]

9

11

7

12

2

42

Deep-sea Coral . .

0

3

3

3

?

?

9

1)

xvill

INTRODUCTION,

II.

Table of the Geographical Distribution of the British
Species of Echinodermata.

Genera and Species.

British Distribution.

General Distribution.

I.

1

PINNIGRADA.
Comatula. Lam.
rosacea. Link.

I. II. VI. VII. X.XI.

Scandinavia, Mediter-

II.

1

SPINIGRADA.
Ophiura. Lam.
texturata. Lam.

I.— XI.

ranean.

Scandinavia, Celtic,

2

albida. Forbes.

I.— XI.

Mediterranean.
North Sea.

III.

1

Ophiocoma. Agas.
neglecta. Jobnst.

I. III.-VI.VIII.-XI.

2

Ballii. Thomp.

VI.

3

punctata. Forbes.

III.

4

filiformis. Mul.

VIII. X.

Norway.

5

brachiata. Mont.

V. X.

6

granulata. Link.

I. V. VI. X. XI.

Scandinavia.

7

bellis. Link.

I.— VI. X. XI.

Arctic and Scandina-

8

Goodsiri. Forbes.

I. III.

vian Seas.

9

rosula. Link.

I — XI.

Arctic, Scandinavian,

10

minuta. Forbes.

VII. XI.

Celtic, and Mediter-
ranean Seas.

IV.

1

Astrophyton. Link,
scutatum. Link.

I. VII.

Arctic and Scandina-

V.

1

CIRRHIGRADA.
Ur aster. Agas.
glacialis. Lin.

II. VII. VIII. X. XI.

vian Seas. Indian
Ocean? Mediter. ?

All the European seas.

2

rubens. Lin.

I.— XU

Throughout the seas

3

violacea. Mul.

I.— IV. VI. VII. X.

of Europe.

Norwegian and Baltic

4

hispida. Pen.

XI.

II. III. X. XI.

Seas.

VI.

1

Cribella. Agas,
oculata. Pen.

I. — IV. VI. VII. X.

Norway ? West of

2

rosea. Mul.

XI.

VII. X.

France.

VII.

1

Solaster. Forbes,
endeca. Lin.

I.III.IV.VI.VII.XI.

Scandinavia.

2

papposa. Lin.

I.— XI.

Scand. and Celt. Seas.

Mediter. ? Asia ?

INTRODUCTION.

XIX

Genera and Species.

British Distribution.

General Distribution

VIII.

Palmipes. Link.

1

membranaceus. Retz.

IV. VII. X. XI.

Arctic, Scandinavian.

and Mediter. Seas

IX.

Asterina. Nardo.

1

gibbosa. Pen.

II. V.— XI.

Celt. & Mediter. Seas.

X.

Goniaster. Agas.

1

Templetoni. Thomp.

I.V.VII. X. XI.

2

equestris. Gmel.

III. IV. VII.

North Sea.

XI.

Asterias. Lin.

1

aurantiaca. Lin.

I. III.— XI.

All the European seas.

XII.

Luidia. Forbes,
fragilissima. Forbes.

I. III. IV. VII. VIII.

X. XI.

CIRRHI-SPINI-

GRADA.

XIII.

Cidaris. Leske.

1

papillata. Flem.

I.

Norway.

XIV.

Echinus. Lin.

1

sphaera. Mul.

I.— XI.

Arctic, Northern, and

Celtic Seas.

2

miliaris. Leske.

I.— VII. X. XI.

3

Flemingii. Ball.

I. VII.

4

lividns. Lam.

VIII. IX.

Mediter. Portugal ?

5

neglectus. Lam.

I.

West of France.

XV.

Echinocyamus.

Leske.

1

pusillus. Mul.

I.— XI.

Norway. West of

France.

XVI.

Echinarachnius.

Leske.

1

placenta. Gmel.
Spatangus. Klein.

I.

Canada, Asia ?

XVII.

1

purpureus. Mul.

I. III. IV. VI. XI.

Scandinavia, Mediter-

ranean.

XVIII.

Brissus. Klein.

1

lyrifer. Forbes.

X.

XIX.

Amphidotus. Agas.

1

cordatus. Pen.

I.— XI.

Northern seas.

2

roseus. Forbes.

I. III.VI.VII.X.XI.

CIRRHI-VERMI-

GRADA.

XX.

Psolus. Oken.

1

phantapus. Lin.

I. III.— V. X. XI,

Norway.

XXI.

Psolinus. Forbes.

1

brevis. F. and G.

I. X.

XXII.

Cucumaria. Blainv.

1

frondosa- Gunner.

I. III.

Norway.

2

pentactes. Mul.

III.— V. X.

Northern and Celtic

Seas.

3

communis. F. and G.

III. VII. X.

4

fusiformis. F. andG.

I.

5

hyalina. Forbes.

I.

6

Drummondii. Thomp.

X.

7

Hindmanni. Thomp.

VIII. X.

8

fucicola. F. and G.

I.

XX

INTRODUCTION.

Genera and Species.

British Distribution.

General Distribution.

XXIII.

Ocnus. F. and G.

1

brunneus. Forbes.

III. X. XI.

2

lacteus. F. and G.

I. III. X.

XXIV.

Thyone. Oken.

1

papillosa. Mul.

I. III. VIII. X. XI.

Norway.

2

Portlockii. Forbes.

X.

XXV.

Chirodota. Esch.

1

digitata. Montagu.

V.

VERMIGRADA.

XXVI.

Syrinx. Bohadsch.

1

nudus. Lin.

IV. V. VII.

Celtic Seas. Mediter.

2

papillosus. Thomp.

.VIII. XI.

West Indies.

3

Harveii. Forbes.

V.

XXVII.

Sipunculus. Lin.

1

Bemhardus. Forbes.

I. XI.

Norway, France.

2

Johnstoni. Forbes.

III. V. ?

XXVIII.

Priapulus. Lam.

1

caudatus. Lam.

I. III. IV. X.

Arctic and Scandina-

vian Seas.

XXIX.

Thalassema. Cuv.

1

Neptuni. Gaertner.

IV.

XXX.

Echiurus. Cuv.

1

vulgaris. Savig.

III.

Belgic coast.

BRITISH ECHINODERMATA.

CRINOIDEAC,

OR PINNIGRADE ECHINODERMATA.

One of the most remarkable phenomena displayed to us
by the researches of the geologist, is the evidence of the
existence, in primaeval times, of animals and plants, the
analogies of which are now rare or wanting on our lands
and in our seas. Among those tribes which have become all
but extinct, but which once presented numerous generic mo-
difications of form and structure, the order of Crinoid Star-
fishes is most prominent. Now scarcely a dozen kinds of
these beautiful animals live in the seas of our globe, and

B

2

CRIN0IDEJ3.

individuals of these kinds are comparatively rarely to be
met with : formerly they were amon'g the most numerous
of the ocean’s inhabitants, — so numerous that the remains
of their skeletons constitute great tracts of the dry land as
it now appears. For miles and miles we may walk over
the stony fragments of the Crinoidese ; fragments which
were once built up in animated forms, encased in living
flesh, and obeying the will of creatures among the loveliest
of the inhabitants of the ocean. Even in their present
disjointed and petrified state, they excite the admiration
not only of the naturalist but of the common gazer ; and
the name of Stone-lily popularly applied to them, indicates
a popular appreciation of their beauty. To the philoso-
pher they have long been subjects of contemplation as well
as of admiration. In him they raise up a vision of an
early world, a world the potentates of which were not
men but animals — of seas on whose tranquil surfaces
myriads of convoluted Nautili sported, and in whose depths
millions of Lily-stars waved wilfully on their slender stems.
Now the Lily-stars and the Nautili are almost gone ; a few
lovely stragglers of those once-abounding tribes remain to
evidence the wondrous forms and structures of their com-
rades. Other beings, not less wonderful, and scarcely less
graceful, have replaced them ; while the seas in which
they flourished have become lands, whereon man in his
columned cathedrals and mazy palaces emulates the
beauty and symmetry of their fluted stems and chambered
shells.

Throughout the animal kingdom we find groups which,
when compared with a neighbouring group of equal value,
present higher affinities and yet lower analogies. The
order before us is a good example, and may serve as an
explanation of this rather obscure-sounding doctrine. The

CRINOIDEiE.

3

Crinoids as analogues of the Polypes are lower than the
Asteroids, but as allies of the Asteroids are their superiors.
An Encrinite is a Polype-like Starfish. Suppose, as Pro-
fessor Jones has well suggested, an Ascidioid Zoophyte
strengthened by depositions of calcareous matter in its
arms and stems, and you have a Orinoid Starfish. In
that point of view the latter is a link between the Echi-
noderms and the Polypes. But the link is, as it were,
lateral — a link of analogy — for the Ascidioid Polypes
themselves are higher in their organisation than many
Echinoderms. Their digestive system is more developed
than that of the Starfishes. In them we see for the first
time Echinoderms with two openings to their digestive
canal. Their generative system is spread over the tegu-
mentary covering of their body and arms, they have
tentacular filaments like those of the Ophiurse; and the
pinnae with which the arms are furnished, have the skin
so developed on their sides as to enable them to serve as
fins wherewith the animal can swim through the water
in the manner of the Medusae, whence the name of Pinni-
grade Echinoderms which I have applied to them, in-
dicative of this mode of progression.

It will be seen in the account of the Comatula , or
Feather-star, that we believe that animal to be fixed and
stable, like one of the fossil Encrinites, when it is young.
At the same time it is very probable that there are Cri-
noids which are stalked throughout life, and that most
of the fossil species were of such a nature. Tribes which
form a link between one mode of existence and another,
generally present examples of both and combinations of
both. Thus among the Polypes do we find in the family
Tubulariadse the connecting link between the naked and
clothed Hydroid Polypes, animals which are naked

CRINOIDEJE.

throughout life, others naked through a part of their
existence, and others which are enclosed in a tube
throughout their lives. In like manner may we expect
to find in the order of Crinoidese animals fixed through-
out life, others fixed through a portion of their existence
only, and others which are free almost from their births.
As yet, however, we know so little of the history of the
tropical species that we cannot pronounce with certainty,
and at present we can only recognise two families of
Crinoids as properly constituted, such as are stalked as
the Encrinites and the Comatula , and such as are sessile,
as the genus Holopus of M. D’Orbigny. This division can
only be regarded as provisional.

ROSY FEATHER-STAR.

5

CRINOIDEJE.

Genus Comatula. Lamarck.

Generic Character. — Body haying five bifurcated pinnated arms : when adult,
free, with simple filiform jointed appendages attached to the sides of its dorsal
disk. When young, fixed on a long simple jointed (pentangular) stalk. (Phy-
tocrinus.)

ROSY FEATHER-STAR.

Comatula rosacea. Link.

Specific Character. — Bays dorsally rounded, with only two joints below the
bifurcation of each.

Link, p. 55, t. xxxvii. f. 66. Encyc. pi.
cxxiv. f. 6.

Link, t. xxxvii. f. 65.

Stella (< decameros ) rosacea ,
Stella ( decameros ) harhata ,

6

CRINOIDEiE.

Asterias bifida and A. decacnemos , Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. pp. 65, 66, No. 70,

71, tab. xxxiii. f. 71.

Adams, Lin. Trans. V. 10.

Lam. 1 Edit. II. p. 535. 2 Edit. III. p.
210. Saks, Beslc. og Jagt. p. 40, pi. viii.
fig. 19.

Fleming, Brit. An. p. 460. Blainv. Man.
d’Actin. p. 248. Forbes, Wem. Mem.
VIII. p. 128.

Fleming, Brit. An. p. 490.

Miller, Crinoideae, p. 132, pi. i.

Leach, Zool. Misc. II. p. 62.

Thompson, Mem. on. Pentac. Eur. t. i. and ii.
Edin. Phil. Journ. vol. xx. p. 35, pi. ii.
Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 490. Buckland’s
Bridg. Tr. pi. lii. f. 2.

Blainv. Man. d’Actin. p. 255, pi. xxvii.
f. 1—8.

After what I have said of the former importance of the
Crinoid Starfishes in the economy of the world, it need
scarcely he remarked that the history of the only Crinoid
animal at present inhabiting our seas, at one time so full
of those beautiful and wonderful creatures, must present
many points of great interest not to the zoologist only,
but also to the geologist. And in truth the history of
the Feather-star, — for so on account of its plumose ap-
pearance I would designate the Starfish called by na-
turalists Comatula , — is one of the little romances in which
natural history abounds, one of those narrations which,
while believing, we almost doubt, and yet, while doubt-
ing, must believe. Nevertheless, there is nothing incon-
sistent with the creature’s position in the animal kingdom
in the account of the developement of the Comatula ; but
before speaking of that subject, it is best we describe the
animal in all its parts.

The adult Comatula consists of a cup-shaped calcareous
base, in the concavity of which is placed a soft body, and
on the convexity a number of slender, jointed, simple arms.
The base branches into five arms, which very soon bifur-

Asterias pectinata ,

Comatula Mediterranean

Comatula rosacea ,

Comatula barbata ,

Comatula fimbriata ,

Alecto Europcea ,

Junr. Pentacrinus Eur op ecus ,

Phytocrinus Europeans,

ROSY FEATHER-STAR.

7

cate, so that as the two branches of each arm are very
long, and the undivided part extremely short, the animal
appears to be ten-armed. These arms are pinnated with
single pinnse, each of which bears a membranous expansion
and other organs, all which parts we must now examine
in detail.

1. The cup-shaped base is very convex on one side, and
deeply concave on the other. The convex part consists of
a somewhat pentangular disk or true base, and five sides
or surfaces. The disk is smooth, but the sides are punc-
tate, with concave hexagonal impressions, the largest of
which are lowest. These are the sockets of the filaments,
which vary in number according to the age of the animal,
being from twenty to thirty in one full grown. There
are also perforations on these punctate sides, which seem
to be the openings of canals branching out from five main
canals, which proceed from near the bottom of the con-
cavity or cup. The disk is imperforate ; but when we
make a section of the cup, we find a funnel-shaped cavity,
which extends very nearly to the surface of the centre of
the disk. The concavity of the cup presents ten canali-
culated radiating ribs, five of which are more depressed
than the others.

2. The filaments, jointed appendages, or simple arms,
with which the convexity of the base is furnished, are
calcareous and jointed ; the joints a little concave in the
middle, and thickest at each end, so that the articulations
have a slightly knotted appearance. These filaments are
not all alike ; there are two kinds of them. The larger
have fourteen joints, and a small, thick, blunt, curved claw,
which is smaller than the joints and has a horny lustre :
the smaller filaments have eighteen rough joints, and an
almost straight claw, which is larger than the joints pre-
ceding it.

8

CRIN OIDEiE .

1, Part of an arm with two pinnae. 2, A single pinna. 3, One of the ten-
tacula. 4, Claw at the extremity of a pinna. 5, Claw of a filiform pro-
cess : all magnified.

3. The arms are five, but bifurcate shortly after their
origin, each of the bifurcations being very long and taper-
ing to its extremity. Before bifurcating the arms are
simple ; but the bifurcations are pinnated with calcareous,
jointed, slender pinnae, which, when fully developed, con-
sist each of from twenty-two to twenty-four perforated
joints, and a claw of five or six crooked finger-like hooks
at the end. The joints are rough as if covered with short
spiculae ; but the claws are smooth. The arms consist of
calcareous joints with sloping diagonal segments, which
can be separated from each other even as the joints can.
The joints of the pinnae are sometimes similarly con-
structed. In a full-grown Feather-star there are thirty-
four pinnae on each side of each bifurcation.

ROSY FEATHER-STAR.

9

4. The soft parts consist of the stomach, which is placed
in the concavity of the cup, and of a membrane and ap-
pendages which cover the surface of the stomach, and
ramify over the arms and along the pinnae. The stomach
is thin and membranous, and opens externally by a sub-
central mouth, the margins of which are crenate. From
its side, opening into it by a rather small aperture, pro-
ceeds an intestine, which winds round the body, and opens
externally by a laterally-placed proboscis-shaped anus, the
aperture of which is round, crenate, and wide, though not
so wide as at the base. This curious vent has been mis-
taken by many authors for a mouth, and has greatly
puzzled others ; and M. de Blainville suggested that it
might be connected with the functions of respiration or
generation : but any one who examines the Comatula alive,
or dissects a specimen well preserved, will not doubt it is
a true vent. The membrane or skin which covers the
stomach is also the covering of the arms, and branches out
to the extremity of their pinnae. It is channelled in
the following manner : — From the mouth proceed five
canals, fringed at their edges, which radiate and bifur-
cate, though not equally, in order to run up the bi-
furcations of the arms ; for, looking at the body from
above, the origins of the arms are hidden. These canals
run up the arms to their extremities, and also to the
extremities of all their pinnae ; and the membranes which
depend from the pinnae are very ample, and furnished
with numerous long white pinnated tentacula or cirrhi.
At certain seasons this membrane bulges out on the pinnae,
and is then filled with white milky globules ; but at all
times the margins of the canals, on the body, on the arms,
and on the pinnae, are studded with round brown dots,
placed in regular rows and at regular distances. They

10

CRINOIDE J3.

are not, however, all of the same size, nor placed on all
parts equally distant from each other ; for on the body
they are small, and the margins of the canals appear
lineated with them, but on the arms and pinnae they are
larger and more distant. On the extreme pinnae they
are very small, proportionate to the length of the pinna
and the developement of the membrane, for their number
is the same on all the pinnae. Thus, as there are thirty-
four pinnae on each side of each of the ten bifurcations of
the arms, and eighty-four brown spots in each, the whole
ten armlets will present the great number of 57,120 of
these spots, which appear to be the animal’s ovaries. The
white milky fluid, on the contrary, would seem to be
seminal, as minute rounded, active animalcules are seen
in it when a drop is highly magnified.

The whole of the animal is of a deep rose colour, dotted
by these brown ovaries, and fringed with the transparent
cirrhi. The description here given I have carefully drawn
up from specimens before me, taken by myself in the Irish
Sea, without adding several points observed by other
describers, but which I have not seen.

M. Sars says there “ are found on the upper part of
each arm, above the proper fins, on each side, four or five
thinner cylindrical thread-like fins (or pinnae) of greater
or less length, some consisting of seven or eight, others of
nearly twenty calcareous joints, which are also furnished
with feet” (cirrhi). M. Dujardin states that the inferior
or ventral surface of the arms and pinnae is provided with
a double range of fleshy tentacula, protected by a double
range of fleshy lamellae, presenting between them a furrow
filled with papillae furnished with vibratile cilia, by the
motions of which animalculae and microscopic vegetables
are conducted along the arms to the mouth, in order to

ROSY FEATHER-STAR.

11

serve as food for tlie animal. This observation I cannot
confirm, not having ever found any vibratile cilia on this
animal, saving on the walls of its stomach. Several authors
state that besides the stomach and intestine, the body is
provided with a liver.

“ In the months of May and June,” says Mr. J. V.
Thompson, “ the full-grown Comatula, have the mem-
branous expansion inside each of the pinnae considerably
extended, at least as far as the fifteenth or twentieth pair ;
these, which are the matrices or conceptacula, at length
show themselves distended with ova, which in July, or
even earlier, make their exit through a round aperture on
the facial side of the conceptaculum, still, however, ad-
hering together in a roundish cluster of about a hundred
each by means of the extension and connection of their
umbilical cords.”

And now commences the
strange chapter in the history
of the F eather-star ; a history
which has excited much dis-
cussion in the world of science.

In the year 1823, Mr. J. V.

Thompson discovered in the
Cove of Cork, a singular little
pedunculated crinoid animal,
which he named Pentacrinus
Europaus. This creature was
taken attached to the stems of
Zoophytes of different orders.

It measured about three-fourths
of an inch in height, and
resembled a minute Gomatula
mounted on the stalk of a

12

CRINOIDE^E.

Pentacrinus. The discovery excited great interest both
at home and abroad ; for it was the first animal of
the Encrinite kind which had been seen in the seas of
Europe, and the first recent Encrinite which had ever
been examined by a competent observer in a living
state. The base of its column, which was flexible and
bent, and twisted itself at the will of the animal, was
expanded into a convex calcareous plate, by which it
attached itself to foreign bodies. From the centre of
the plate arose the column, built up of about twenty-
four joints, and somewhat thicker towards its upper
extremity than at the lower. Round its uppermost
joints, springing from the base of its cup-like body, was
a row of jointed filaments with hooked extremities.
The body bore five bifurcating arms, each bifurcation
consisting of about twenty-four joints, in the older
specimens pinnated, in the younger simple. Along’ the
sides of each arm were rows of dark spots, and from
the membrane of the arms proceeded fleshy flexible ten-
tacula. The body resembled that of Comatula in its
structure, having a separate mouth and proboscidiform
lateral anus. The youngest specimens found had neither
column nor arms, but appeared like little clubs fixed by a
spreading base, and sending out from their summits a few
pellucid tentacula. Dr. Fleming first proposed the generic
separation of this animal from Pentacrinus , and suggested
the propriety of associating it with Comatula by an im-
proved definition of the family Comatulida. M. de Blain-
ville afterwards constituted for its reception the genus
Phytocrinus , and associated it with the Encrinites. But
in 1836, Mr. J. V. Thompson published a second memoir
on the subject in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Jour-
nal, communicating the results of further researches. In

ROSY FEATHER-STAR.

13

that paper he maintained the proposition that his Penta-
crinus Europaus was only the young of Comatula ; that
the Feather-star commenced life as an Encrinite, and
thus, as it were, changed its nature from a pseudo-polype
to a Starfish. He there compares the youngest Comatula
he had met with, with the oldest Pentacrinus , and shows
the gradual progression of form during the developement of
the latter towards the adult state of the former, the de-
velopement of the arms, the gradual appearance of the
pinnse and the original absence of dorsal filaments, and the
increase in their number as the animals of each kind grow
older. He figures an advanced Pentacrinus just beginning
to form pinnse, and compares it with the figure of the
youngest Comatula he had ever obtained by dredging, and
remarks, “ In the Pentacrinus it is to be observed that
the arms are just beginning to form pinnse towards their
extremities; that they have the sulphur yellow colour
and dark marginal spotting observable in the other, which
shews in like manner that the upper pinnse are first
formed.” Afterwards the dorsal cirrhi are increased from
five to nine. Comatulse “ a little older are comparatively
common in which the pinnse are complete, and from this
period they appear to form regularly at the apex of the
arm as this goes on extending in length. These small
Comatula still retain the original sulphur yellow colour
towards the apices of the arms, the lower part and body
assuming the characteristic red of the adult Comatula.
From observations repeatedly made,” says Mr. J. V.
Thompson, “ I think it most probable that the Comatula
attain their full growth in one year so as to be in a con-
dition to propagate their kind the summer following that
of their birth.” Further on he remarks: — “ Another cir-
cumstance confirmatory of these being the young of Co-

14

CRINOIDE.E.

matula is derived from these Pentacrini being first seen
about the time of the dispersion of the ova of the Comatula,
and again entirely disappearing in September, the only
season in which young Comatula are to he obtained.”
“ By what means the ova are dispersed, or how they
become attached to the stems and branches of corallines,
remains to he discovered ; but it is strongly to be sus-
pected that the animal is gifted with the power of placing
them in appropriate situations, otherwise we should find
them indiscriminately on fuci, shells, stones, &c. which does
not appear to be the case. However this may be, if we are
allowed to assume that the Pentacrinus Europaus is the
young of Comatula , we first perceive the dispersed and
attached ova in the form of a flattened oval disk, by which
it is permanently fixed to the spot selected, giving exit to
an obscurely-pointed head, in which individual the animal
is sufficiently advanced to show the incipient formation of
the arms and the mouth, with its tentacula, by means of
which it obtains the food necessary for its successive
growth.”

Although the change of the Pentacrinus into the Feather-
star has never been seen, yet the arguments of the dis-
coverer of the former appear to me sufficiently to warrant
the union of these two animals as one species in different
states. I feel more confident in expressing this belief
since I know that the identity of the Comatula and Penta-
crinus is held by Mr. Thompson of Belfast, and Mr. Ball
of Dublin, two gentlemen who have examined the latter
animal under the most favourable circumstances, and who
exhibited the creature alive to the members of the Natural
History Section of the British Association during its
session in Dublin. Through the kindness of the former
of those naturalists I have been enabled to examine several

ROSY FEATHER-STAR.

15

specimens of Pentacrinus Europaus preserved in spirits,
also some very young Comatula. In one of Mr. Thomp-
son’s specimens of the latter, I found the basal disk con-
centrically ribbed, and presenting traces of a central per-
foration. Its pentangular form would lead us to suppose
that the column of the young animal is of the same shape.
The column of the Pentacrinus Europaus examined was
very long compared with the body, and composed of
eighteen joints. Under the microscope it appeared of a
granular texture. When compressed between plates of
glass and highly magnified, the substance of the column
and body presented a beautiful reticulated appearance, in
consequence of the separation of the plates of calcareous
matter with which it was studded. These plates were
mostly pentagonal. They are themselves composed of
little calcareous particles, each of which also appears to
be pentangular ; but they adhere more firmly together
than the plates do to one another. The same peculiar
regular granular structure is seen in the calcareous sub-
stance of other Echinodermata, especially when the animal
is young ; and such a structure is very favourable to the
spheroidal growth of these creatures.

The adult Comatula frequents both deep and shallow
water. In deep water we find them full grown ; and when
dredging in such a situation I have never seen a small one.
In the region of Laminarise they abound in several lo-
calities, and there are found of all sizes, in company with
the stalked form or Phytocrinus. Probably they frequent
those forests of sea-weeds for breeding purposes at certain
seasons, and retire to the deep sea at other times. We
are told by Mr. J. Y. Thompson that Comatula swims
like a Medusa. “ In swimming,” he says, “ the move-
ments of the arms of the Comatula exactly resemble the

16

CRINOIDE^E.

alternating stroke given by the Medusa to the liquid
element, and has the same effect, causing the animal to
raise itself from the bottom, and to advance back foremost
even more rapidly than the Medusa.” I have observed
that they effect the movement by advancing the arms
alternately, five at a time. The stalked young are not
only found on corallines, as Mr. J. V. Thompson sup-
posed. Mr. W. Thompson finds them on the leaves of
fuci, and remarks that they are very active animals on their
pedicles.

The Rosy Feather-star is found on many parts of the
British coast. It was sent to Link by Llwyd from Pen-
zance, was found at Milford Haven by Mr. Miller, in
Wales by Mr. Adams, and on the west coast of Scotland
by our distinguished zoologist, Pennant. I have never
heard of its being found on the eastern shores, though in
Shetland Mr. Goodsir and I found several in ten fathoms
water on Laminarise, the roots of which they were grasp-
ing with their dorsal filaments or claws, their arms winding
among the branches and twining round them. In the Irish
Sea I have often dredged large ones in twenty fathoms’
water at some, distance from land. In Ireland Mr. Ball
finds it abundant on the Dublin coast, Mr. J. V. Thomp-
son at Cork, and Mr. W. Thompson on the shores of
Antrim and Down. Mr. Ball and Mr. William Thomp-
son dredged it in company with the stalked young off
Ireland’s Eye, near Dublin, attached to Delesseria san-
guined. A plant of Halidrys siliquosa brought up by the
latter gentleman at the entrance of Strangford Lough in
October 1839, had about twenty full-grown Comatula
attached to it.

Two species of Comatula are given as British in most
works on British zoology, — the Comatula rosacea , having

ROSY FEATHER-STAR.

17

thirty dorsal filaments ; and the Comatula barbata , having
only ten. They are evidently the same animal, of different
ages, or in different states of preservation, as may be seen
at once by referring to the figures given of each. They
are both identical with the Comatula Mediterranea of
Lamarck. A Feather-star is a very different animal
when preserved in spirits with its expanded fins, from what
it appears when dried. The range of the Rosy Feather-
star extends from Norway to the shores of the Medi-
terranean.

When a freshly-caught Feather-star is plunged into
cold fresh water, it dies in a state of contraction ; but if
not so killed, or else if not killed in spirits, it breaks itself
into pieces like an OpMura. When dying, either in fresh
water or in spirits it gives out a most beautiful purple
colour which tinges the liquid in which it is killed. This
colour is retained a long time in spirits. The fact was
long ago noted by Bartholinus, who observed it at Naples,
and whose observations on it will be found in a note to
Fabius Columna.

Mr. J. Y. Thompson has the following note on a curious
animal, which is parasitic on the Feather-star: — “Con-
nected with the natural history of the Comatula is that of
a nondescript parasite, which appears to be a complete
zoological puzzle, as it is not possible to determine from
its figure and structure to what class it ought to be
referred, its natural size not exceeding that of the breadth
of the ossicula of the arms of the Comatula : it resembles
a flat scale, and runs about with considerable velocity on
the arms of the animal, and occasionally protrudes a
flexible tubular proboscis, ending in a papillary margin.
The disk or body is surrounded by eighteen or twenty

18

CRINOIDEiE.

retractile and moveable tentaculi, and beneath is fur-
nished with five pairs of short members, each ending in a
hooked claw. — Query, is it a perfect animal, or a larva?
and does it belong to the Crustacea, the Annelides, or
what 2”

The vignette represents the upper surface of the body of
the Feather-star magnified, from a sketch by Mr. Tem-
pleton.

OPHIURIDiE.

19

OPHIURIM5,

OR SPINIGRADE ECHINODERMATA.

These Starfishes are so named from the long serpent, or
worm-like, arms which are appended to their round, de-
pressed, urchin-like bodies. Naturalists have associated
them with true Starfishes, and made them a family of
Asteriadse ; but in reality they are as distinct from those
animals as they are from the Crinoid Starfishes. In fact,
they hold the same relation to the Crinoidese that the
true Starfishes hold to the Sea-Urchins. They are S 'pini-
grade animals, and have no true suckers by which to
walk, their progression being effected (and with great
facility) by means of five long flexible-jointed processes,
placed at regular distances round their body, and fur-
nished with spines on the sides and membranous tentacula.
These processes are very different from the arms of the
true Starfishes, which are lobes of the animal’s body;
whereas the arms of the Ophiuridse are superadded to the
body, and there is no excavation in them for any pro-

20

OPHIURIDiE.

longation of the digestive organs. The stomach is a sac’
with one aperture, its walls externally covered with
vibratile cilia. The ovaries are not branched ; they are
placed near the arms, and open by orifices near the month,
between the origins of the arms. Their investing mem-
brane is also ciliated; but on the rest of the body and
arms no cilia exist — hence we may conclude there is no
separate respiratory system.

The Ophiuridse are always regularly radiate, and they
seldom vary in the number of their parts. With them
the number five is absolute. Colour and proportions are
the subjects of variation in this order. Generic characters
among them are founded on the simplicity or complexity
of the arms, the mode of their insertion, and on the forms
of the plates which separate their origins beneath. The
sources of specific character are derived from the spines
and scales of the body and arms, and the proportions of
arms and disk. Colour is variable in all the known
species.

What I take to be the nervous system will be found
described under the account of Ophiocoma bellis. There
is no appearance of ocular spots in the animals of this
order.

The Ophiurida are very generally distributed through
the seas of our earth, both of its northern and southern
hemispheres. The species do not present such wide
ranges as the true Starfishes. They are more affected
by climatal causes, which seem to influence their size,
they being largest in the tropical seas. In our own seas
they are very abundant, and are among the most curious
and beautiful game pursued by the dredger. Among the
relics of the Radiata of the primaeval seas we find several
species of Ophiuridse. No extreme change 1ms taken place

OPHIURIDJE.

21

in the forms of the family since the extinction of the
species found fossil.

The British Ophiuridse belong to two families, that of
Ophiura and that of Euryales. The animals of the former
family have simple arms ; those of the latter, arms rami-
fying into many processes.

22

OPHIURiE.

OPHIURIDJE.

OPHIURJE.

Genus Ophiura. Lam. Ag.

Generic Character. — Rays simple, squamose, prolonged into the disk superiorly,
and separated at their origins beneath by large shield-shaped plates. (Cirrhi
simple.)

COMMON SAND-STAR.

Ophiura texturata. Lam.

Specific Character. — Pectinated scales clasping the bases of the rays with more
than twenty teeth. Inferior intermediate plates hollowed out at the sides.
Lateral ray-plates each bearing seven spines.

Asterias Ophiura , Linn. Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2840.

Asterius lacertosa, Penn. Brit. Zool. IV. p. 63.

Ophiura texturata, Lam. Anim. sans Vert. 1 Edit. II. p. 542 ; 2 Edit. III.

p. 221. Blainv. Man. d’Actin. p. 243. Forbes, Wem.
Trans, vol. VIII. p. 125. pi. iv. f. 3, 4.

COMMON SAND-STAR.

23

Ophiura bradeata , Flem. Brit. Anira. p. 488. Johnston, in Mag. Nat. Hist.

VIII. p. 465, f. 41.

Ophiura Aurora , Risso, Eur. Merid. V. p. 273, f. 29.

Ophiura arenosa , Leach, Zool. Misc. II. p. 58.

Stella lacertosa , Link, p. 47, tab. ii. No. 4.

Professor Agassiz very properly proposed the generic
separation of the lacertose from the worm-armed Ophiurse.
The habits and characters of each are equally distinct.
The true Ophiura live in sandy places. Their preference
of such a locality is amusingly enough accounted for by
Reaumur, who tells us that, because they are so fragile
they are not able to live among rocks, and therefore in-
habit sand : — a true closet reason ; had he only walked
to the sea-shore, he would have seen the Ophiocomse, which
are far more brittle, in abundance among the rocks, moving
about in perfect safety. Natural, however, as is the ge-
nus, the character, as restricted by Professor Agassiz, is
quite inapplicable, and might serve as a warning against
the dangerous practice of defining genera of radiated ani-
mals without reference to their habits and appearance
when alive. “ Disk much flattened ; rays simple, squa-
mose, bearing very short spines adhering to the rays.”
The disk is only flat in the dried specimen. When the
animal is alive, it pouts it out so as to make it very convex ;
in fact, the disk is much more moveable than in the next
species. The spines are quite as long as those of many
species of Ophiocoma , and are only appressed when the
animal is dead : when it is alive, they stand out as in a
Brittle-star ; but as they are placed in a different manner
on the lateral ray-plate, — or rather as the lateral ray-plates
are somewhat imbricated, — they naturally close on the
ray when the animal has no power over them. The
cirrhi, which are placed between the rows of spines, are
long, simple, and very flexible. Round the mouth there

24

0PHIURJ3.

are twenty tentacula similar in form and nature to tlie
cirrhi ; in fact, the ten exterior (for ten are within the
month) are so many of the cirrhi of the lowest joints of
the rays applied to another purpose. The uses of these
tentacula are curious. Not only do they serve to convey
food to the mouth, hut they also serve to eject the matter
digested. They are continually in motion, waving up and
down ; and every now and then when the stomach pouts
up and ejects some digested matter, the lowermost or inner
tentacula shovel it up, and the uppermost or outer clear
it away. This is done with great regularity ; and it is a
very curious sight, for not only are the motions and ac-
tions of the tentacula admirable, but when the stomach
swells, there appear bright orange stripes of a most vivid
metallic lustre running along its surface, with an almost
phosphorescent gleaming.

The Ophiura texturata has a regular round disk, into
which the arms are as it were dovetailed above. This
disk is covered with small smooth scales, rosulated in the
centre, round which many of the scales are exceedingly
small. Opposite the insertion of each ray are two trian-
gular plates which diverge and are separated from each
other throughout their lengths by two large transverse
scales. The rays are long, tapering to a very fine extre-
mity, and obtusely carinate. The scales which cover them
are very broad and narrow. Beneath they are clothed
with small lenticular plates. The marginal plates are pro-
minent and rounded ; those nearest the base bear seven
short flattened obtuse spines, those uppermost longest ;
but the number diminishes with the breadth of the rays.
The scales of the disk clasping the bases of the rays, bear
from twenty to twenty-five teeth or little spines. The
plates between the origins of the rays beneath are large

COMMON SAND-STAR.

25

and fiddle-shaped. The disk of the largest specimen I
have taken was nine-tenths of an inch broad ; and the rays
vary from three times the length of the disk’s breadth, or
even less, to five times as large. The disk is generally
reddish, marbled with purple-brown ; the sides white ; and
the under surface and spines are generally pale yellowish,
or white.

Dr. Johnston records a remarkable variety or rather
monstrosity, having a square disk and four rays, the other
parts also regulated by the number four. I have the disk
of a young one presenting a somewhat similar appearance ;
but in it there are five arms, two of them originating
together, so that the quaternary arrangement of the other
parts may be looked upon as the result of the union of
two sets of organs.

When very young, this species has much the aspect of
an Ophiocoma ; the lateral spines are longer in proportion
to the rays, and the latter are not so deeply inserted in
the disk. On comparing a series of specimens from a very
small size to the full grown state, we see that the chief
increase has been on the outer edge of the disk (the centre
being perfect in the arrangement of its scales in the young-
est specimen), and at the sides of the superior arm-plates,
which are at first almost ovate.

The common Sand-star is found on most parts of the
British coast, and does not confine itself so much to sandy
ground as the next species. In England, Dr. Coldstream
found it in Devonshire, Mr. Couch in Cornwall, Pennant
in Anglesea; and Mr. Bean says it is dredged in deep
water at Scarborough, but is very rare. Dr. Johnston
takes it at Berwick, and it is abundant near the mouth of
the Frith of Forth ; but is superseded by the next species,
higher up that estuary. On the Dogger Bank, and gene-

26

OPHIUR^J.

rally off the east coast of Scotland, it is frequent. It is
found among the Hebrides, in the estuary of the Clyde,
and Mr. P. Maclagan sends me it from Ayrshire. In the
Irish Sea it is rather scarce ; hut is common, according to
Mr. Thompson, on a sandy bottom in the north-east and
south of Ireland.

In Stewart’s Elements of Natural History it is stated
that this Sand-star “ is supposed to be the cause of the in-
juries sometimes received from eating muscles, which at
certain times of the year feed upon it.” There are no
grounds for this absurd notion, nor have I ever met with
any persons who entertained it.

LESSER SAND-STAR.

27

OP HI URIDJE.

OPHIURJE.

LESSER SAND-STAR.

OpMura albida. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Pectinated scales, clasping the bases of the rays with
fewer than sixteen teeth. Inferior intermediate plates with straight sides. La-
teral ray-plates with four or five spines on each.

OpMura albida , Forbes, Wem, Trans, vol. VIII. p. 125,

pi. iv. f. 586.

OpMura texturata , 2 eadem minor albida , Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert. 1 Edit.

vol. II. p. 542 ; 2 Edit. vol. III.

p. 221.

The Lesser Sand-star is more common than the
last ; but had long been confounded with it, or passed
over as its young, until I separated it from that species
under the name of OpMura albida , giving it that name
(though it is not altogether appropriate, seeing that the
creature is white only when dried), under the belief that

28

0PHIURJ3.

it was the variety, 2 albida , of Lamarck. It had long
before, however, been placed aside as distinct by my friend,
Mr. W. Thompson of Belfast ; and I have seen it so
separated in several collections, under the belief that the
larger species was the lacertosa and this the texturata.

The disk is round, imbricated above with smooth unequal
scales, a large one in the centre, surrounded by five others of
equal size. The scales are always larger and fewer than
in the last species ; and this serves also to distinguish the
young of the two Sand-stars from each other, though, besides
this distinction, the young albida is much thicker and smaller
in proportion to its arms, than the young texturata . Op-
posite the base of each ray are two triangular plates, simi-
larly placed to those in the last species. The pectinated
scales clasping the rays never bear more than sixteen teeth.
The plates separating the origins of the rays beneath are
shaped like a shield, with straight sides. The rays are
covered superiorly by transversely ovate hexagonal scales,
and below by smaller plates of a similar form. The lateral
ray-plates bear each four or five short appressed spines.
The rays are three or four times as long as the disk is
broad. The largest disk I have met with measures half
an inch across. When alive the disk is generally pink,
with ten white spots, which occupy half of each of the ten
plates opposite the ray-origins. The centre of the arms
is pink ; the under surface and spines white ; the cirrhi
and tentacula are tipped with yellow : sometimes the disk
is marbled with orange spots.

When one of these creatures is put into a vessel of salt
water, it will remain quiet for some time, contrary to the
habit of the Brittle-stars, and then slowly move its arms
up and down. Should it be placed on its hack, that posi-
tion appears to be very disagreeable to it ; for it imme-

LESSER SAND-STAR.

29

diately proceeds to change it by raising its body to a per-
pendicular and tumbling over. This it effects by bending
two or three of the rays into an arch, leaving the others
straight and spread out.

It frequents oyster-beds and sandy places probably on
all our coasts. Mr. Bean says it inhabits deep water at
Scarborough. I find it on most parts of the Scottish
coast, and abundant in the Irish Sea. Mr. Thompson
says it is common on a sandy bottom on the coast of
Down and Antrim, and adds the following note : — “ At
Portaferry on one occasion, and in the month of October,
we dredged up a considerable number of the albida and
not one of the texturata. The Ophiura albida is very
valuable in colour, presenting many shades of grey, brown,
and red. The only white any of them exhibited on the
upper surface, was a narrow stripe on each side of the base
of the rays, and this was present in every one of them.11

It is common also in Dublin Bay, and on the west coast
of Ireland.

30

OPHIUR/E.

OPHIURIDJE.

OPIIIURJE.

Genus, Ophiocoma. Agassiz.

Generic Character. — Rays simple, squamose, not prolonged into the disk
superiorly, and separated at their origins beneath by small pentangular plates.
(Cirrhi pinnate.)

GRAY BRITTLE-STAR.

Opliiocoma neglecta. Johnston.

Specific Character. — Disk round, flat, imbricated with small smooth scales.
Two oblong, parallel, touching plates opposite the origin of each ray. Upper ray-
scales square ; lateral ray-plates, bearing four or five spines each, which are
equal in length to the breadth of the ray.

Ophiura neglecta , Johnston, Mag. Nat. Hist. VIII. p. 467, fig. 42. La-
marck, Anim. sans Vert. 2 Edit. p. 226.

Ophiocoma neglecta , Forbes, Wern. Mem. vol. VIII. p. 126, pi. iv. fig. 7.
Ophiura elegans , Leach, Zool. Misc. II. p. 57.

The Brittle-stars are at once recognised as distinct
from the true Ophiurse, either alive or dried, by their

GRAY BRITTLE-STAR.

31

peculiar habit, as well as by minute but more easily-
definable characters. The rays of the Sand-stars have a
whip-like or lizard-tail appearance ; those of the Brittle-
stars look like so many Centipedes or Annelides, attached
at regular distances round a little Sea-urchin. The latter
are much more flexible than the former, more irritable,
more brittle, nevertheless much more tenacious of life.
When dried, the ray-spines of the Brittle-stars stand out
from the ray ; whereas in the preserved Sand-star they are
appressed to its sides. The cirrhi, too, which are seen
between each row of spines in the living animal, are pin-
nate, or as if covered with short tubes in the Ophiocomse.
The Brittle-stars are much more active animals than the
Ophiurse; they seldom remain quiet for a moment, but
are continually twisting about their arms, and if laid hold
of they break up into little pieces with wonderful facility,
each fragment of an arm also breaking itself up into
smaller pieces ; and, frequently when we seize one of these
creatures, in a moment we find nothing but the disk re-
maining. They can reproduce their arms in the same
manner as the Asteriada.

This habit of breaking themselves into pieces when cap-
tured, renders it very difficult to preserve them for col-
lections. Dr. Johnston has given the following directions
for their preservation in the ninth volume of the Magazine
of Natural History 1 “ The Ophiurse must be brought from
the shore in sea- water, where, after being allowed to remain
at rest for an hour or so, they will crawl about and expand
themselves on the bottom and sides of the vessel. When
in this state remove them with the fingers cautiously, and
plunge them instantly into a large basin of cold fresh
water. They die in a state of the most rigid expansion,
and so quickly that even the most brittle species have no

32

OPHIUR^.

time to make the contraction necessary to break off their
rays. Allow them to lie in fresh water for twenty-four
hours, when they are to be displayed on white paper, and
dried very slowly before the fire.” I would recommend
another mode which saves time, and is more convenient
to the traveller. It is this : drop the Sand or Brittle star
as soon as possible into fresh water, let it lie there for an
hour or so, and then dip it for a moment in boiling water ;
it is then to be dried in the sun or in a current of air,
which will be effected in a very short time, and packed
in paper. By such a simple process as many specimens as
the collector pleases may he dried and put away in a
couple of hours. The fresh water acts as a poison on the
Ophiurse, as well as on most other marine animals, and
kills them instantaneously. Mr. F. H. N. Glossop notices
its effects on the Starfishes generally, in the ninth volume
of the Magazine of Natural History.

The Gray Brittle-star is a little species, having very
much the aspect of a Sand-star, and constitutes with some
allied forms a connecting link between the two genera.
They cannot, however, be confounded, as the origins of
the rays, whether extended into the disk above, or inserted
entirely beneath, at once show whether the creature before
us is an Ophiura or an Ophiocoma, independent of the
other characters. Its body which rarely exceeds two-
tenths of an inch in breadth, and is seldom so large, is
circular and flat, imbricated above with small smooth
scales which are rosulated in the centre. Opposite the
origin of each ray are two oblong narrow plates, the inner
margins of which touch throughout their lengths. The
scales between the inferior origins of the rays are small
and pentangular. The rays, which are generally a little
more than three times as long as the breadth of the

GRAY BRITTLE-STAR.

33

disk, are covered above by almost square scales, beneath
by longitudinally oblong plates. Each of the transverse
ridges on the sides of the rays bears four or five conical
short spines, equal in length to the breadth of the ray.
These spines appear smooth to the naked eye ; but when
highly magnified are seen to be rough with little points.
The colour of the body and rays is gray ; the spines
lighter. The plates opposite the origins of the rays are
deep gray with white tips.

This species was first distinguished and named by Dr.
Johnston of Berwick in the year 1835. It seems to be
the Starfish mentioned in Mr. Templeton’s catalogue of
the Rayed Animals of Ireland, under the name of “ Ophiura
minuta found in the pools of marine rocks of Antrim and
Down.” Dr. Leach characterises a species from “ among
rocks on the coast of Devonshire” under the name of Ophiura
elegans , which possibly is the neglecta. He describes his
Starfish thus : — ■“ Body squamous, very slightly emarginate
between the rays, with ten geminated scales larger than the
others ; rays long, with somewhat transverse scales and
short spines, gray annulated with white.” The distribution
of the Gray Brittle-star on the coasts of Britain is exten-
sive. In England Mr. Couch finds it on the shores of
Cornwall, and Dr. Johnston at Berwick, “ between tide-
marks ; not rare.” Mr. Bean takes it in a similar situa-
tion at Scarborough. In the Irish Sea I have dredged it
in deep water on the Manx coast. In Ireland it was taken
by Mr. Thompson and Mr. Hyndman in Strangford Loch
in the year 1834, and set aside as distinct. In that locality
it is abundant in rock-pools among Corallina officinalis.
They have also dredged up a few on the coasts of Down
and Antrim, and it is common on the west coast. In
Scotland, Mr. Henry Goodsir found it at Newhaven in the

34

OPHIUR^E.

Frith of Forth. On the west coast I found it under stones
on the shore at Campbeltown, Argyleshire, plentiful ; and
Mr. John Goodsir and I took it both in Orkney and
Shetland by the dredge. In the Channel Islands I found
it in August 1839 at low water in Herm.

I doubt not this species will be found on the coasts of
France, and in the north of Europe. Starfishes do not
seem to be so local in their distribution as Mollusca and
the higher classes of animals. Indeed, the remark may
be extended to the radiate animals generally ; for among
them we find more forms, in proportion to their numbers,
common to great tracts of ocean, without reference to
climate, than in any other division of the animal kingdom.

ball’s brittle-star.

35

OPIIIURJE.

BALL’S BRITTLE-STAR.

Ophiocoma Ballii. Thompson.

Ophiocoma Ballii , Thompson, Annals of Natural History, vol. V. (April, 1840),
p. 99.

Specific Character. — Disk round or angular, covered with imbricated scales,
two diverging broadly wedge-shaped scales at the base of each ray. Upper ray-
scales fan-shaped ; lateral ray-plates, each bearing four spines, which are as long
or sometimes longer than the breadth of the ray.

This pretty little species, one of the many contributions to
the fauna of our islands, for which we owe thanks to the
indefatigable researches of Mr. Ball, was dredged by that
gentleman several years ago in Dalkey Sound on the coast
of Dublin ; and was described and named after its disco-
verer by Mr. Thompson in the fifth volume of that valuable
periodical, the Annals of Natural History. Several spe-
cimens of the Ophiocoma Ballii were taken ; the disk of the
largest was two and a half lines broad, and the rays were
nearly four times as long as its breadth. The disk is rather
flat, round ; in some specimens pentangular. The whole
of the upper surface is imbricated with smooth scales,

36

OPHIUR^E.

which are rosulated in the centre. On the disk of the
largest example were a few minute scattered spines.
Opposite the origin of each ray are two diverging wedge-
shaped scales. The plates which separate the origins of
the rays beneath are transversely ovate, and rather larger
than in the neighbouring species of Ophiocoma. The rays
are covered above with fan-shaped scales, beneath with
rudely heart-shaped plates ; and their sides are clothed
with transverse plates, each bearing four spines, which are
rough and as long as, in some cases longer than, the breadth
of the rays. These spines are rough, with deep puncta-
tions ; and when viewed under a lens, all the scales of the
body and rays are punctate in a similar manner. The
colour of this species is pink. Although it has hitherto
only occurred on the Irish coast, it should be sought for
elsewhere, as from its resemblance to Ophiocoma neglecta
it may be passed over as that species. Independent of the
other characters, the diverging scales at the bases of the
rays easily distinguish it.

DOTTED BRITTLE-STAR.

OPHIU. RID IE.

37

OPHIUPM .

THE DOTTED BRITTLE-STAR.

Ophiocoma punctata. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Disk pentangular, covered with smooth imbricated scales ;
two diverging narrow wedge-shaped scales opposite the origins of each ray.
Upper ray-scales oblong, each with a central ridge and a deep depression
anteriorly. Lateral ray-plates, each hearing five spines, which do not equal in
length the breadth of the ray.

The stomachs of fishes are often zoological treasuries.
The Haddock is a great conchologist. In his travels
through the country of the Mermaids, he picks up many
curiosities in the shell way. Not a few rare species have
been discovered by him ; and the ungrateful zoologist too
frequently describes novelties without an allusion to the
original discoverer. As Haddocks are not in the habit of
writing pamphlets or papers, the fraud remains undis-
covered, greatly to the detriment of science ; for, had the
describer stated to whom he was indebted for his speci-
men, we could form some idea of its habitat and history,

38

OPHIUR^.

whether littoral or deep sea, — very important points in the
economy of Mollusca, — important not only to the mala-
cologist, but also to the geologist. Like the Haddock,
the Cod also is a great naturalist ; and he, too, carries his
devotion to our dear science so far as occasionally to die
for its sake with a new species in his stomach, probably
with a view to its being described and figured by some
competent authority. The Cod is not so much devoted
to the Mollusca as to the Echinodermata ; and doubtless
his knowledge of the Ophiurse exceeds that of any biped.
He has a great taste for that tribe. It was a Cod that
communicated the pretty little species I am about to
describe, to my friend, Mr. Henry Coodsir, at Anstruther ;
and, as far as that gentleman could learn, it would appear
the industrious animal had observed and entrapped this
new Ophiocoma in the North Sea near the Dogger Bank.

The Dotted Ophiocoma is a very little species. Its
body is only one-eighth of an inch in diameter; but its
rays are very long, being seven times as long as the disk
is broad. The disk is pentangular. The upper surface is
imbricated with smooth scales, which are rosulated in the
centre, the central scale round and large. Opposite the
origin of each ray are two long wedge-shaped scales, the
basal angles of which touch, but the apices diverge.
Beneath, the scales which separate the origins of the
rays are ovate, and rather large in proportion to the
disk. The rays are long and narrow, six times as long
as the disk is broad. Above they are covered with ob-
long plates, which present a more or less prominent ridge
in the centre, and in front a deep dimple or impression,
which is strongest towards the origins of the rays.
Their under surfaces are covered with longitudinally

DOTTED BRITTLE-STAR.

39

oblong plates ; their sides with short, pointed spines, not
equalling their breadth, arranged in lines on prominent
transverse ridges. The whole surface of the ray and
spines is seen to be finely frosted when highly magnified.
The colour is pinkish gray.

40

OPHIUR^J.

OPHIUPIDM.

OPHIURJE.

THREAD-RAYED BRITTLE-STAR.

Ophiocoma filiformis. Muller.

Specific Character. — Disk subpentangular, notched, flat, imbricated with small
smooth scales. Two oblongo-lanceolate, diverging scales, opposite the origin of
each ray. Rays very long. Upper ray-scales square ; lateral ray-plates, each
bearing five spines, which are shorter than the breadth of the ray.

Asterias filiformis , Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2843 ; Zool. Dan. t. lix. pi.
cxxii. f. 1-3.

Ophiura filiformis, Lam. 1 Edit. II. p. 546 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 236. Blainv.
Man. d’Actin. p. 244.

Among other places visited on a dredging excursion, in
company with Mr. Smith of Jordanhill, in his pretty
yacht the Amethyst, during the month of July 1839, was

THREAD-RAYED BRITTLE-STAR.

41

the beautiful bay of Rothsay. The sea bottom in this
bay is a soft shining gray mud, abounding in the usual
shell-fish inhabiting such a locality, as Nucula Margaritacea ,
Corbula nucleus , and Amphidesma Boysii , and that very
beautiful Zoophyte the Tubular ia indivisa , which seems
to flourish upright on this muddy ground like a flower,
fixed by the tapering root-like termination of its horny
case. The common open-meshed dredge is of no use on
such ground, as the mud is washed out through the meshes
and the animals included have escaped before it can be
drawn up to the surface. A dredge constructed of a
triangle of flat pieces of iron to which a canvass bag,
pierced with eyelet holes in order that the water may
drain off, is attached, obviates such inconveniences, and
secures the wished-for prey. Besides the creatures I have
just mentioned, two beautiful radiate animals inhabit Roth-
say Bay ; both of them are unrecorded as members of the
British Fauna. The one is a Spatangus , which I shall
describe in its proper place ; the other is the singular
Brittle-star described and figured by Muller under the
appropriate name of Asterias filiformis. Of this most
curious of Ophiurse I first found one of the thread-like
arms winding amongst the mud. Arm after arm occurred,
but no body : at length the skeleton of a body was found,
and when I had almost begun to despair of finding any-
thing like a disk, an almost perfect specimen appeared.
A few days after, dredging on similar ground in the Glair
Loch opposite Greenock, I wras astonished by the sight of
masses of interlacing arms of the same animal, as large as
a man’s fist, coming up in the dredge. They were all
alive, and twisting in every direction ; yet, strange to say,
there were no more than seven or eight disks secured,
although several hundreds of arms were taken. The fact

42

0PHIUR^3.

is, the disk is extremely soft, especially when the animal
is in egg, as was the case in the instance mentioned ; and
not being so well secured to its skeleton, as in the other
Brittle-stars, it was almost always rubbed away or de-
stroyed by the rough usage it met with in the dredge on
its way to the surface. The arms, however, seem to pre-
serve their integrity much more patiently than those of
the neighbouring species. The two localities mentioned
are the only places in Britain where this Ophiura has as
yet been observed ; it is probable, however, that it will be
found in similar situations in other loughs on the west
coast of Scotland. In July 1840 it was taken for the
first time in Ireland by Mr. Thompson, Mr. Ball, Mr.
Hyndman, and myself, in the Killary and other marine
Loughs of Connemara. Muller first observed individuals
in Norway, “in sedimento argillaceo 1773, rarissime ;
postea in fundo argillaceo maritimo Norvegise occidentalis
frequentam reperi so that its habitat appears to be
always muddy.

The disk is somewhat pentangular, slightly lobed and
notched opposite the rays. Its surface is covered with
minute, smooth, rosulated scales ; and opposite the origin
of each of the rays are two oblongo-lanceolate scales, which
converge, but do not touch, at their upper extremities.
The arms are extremely long, though variable in their
length in various specimens ; in some, ten or twelve times
as long as the breadth of the disk, and of nearly equal
thickness to near their extremities, where they suddenly
taper to the termination. They are covered above with
square scales, below with lenticular plates. Muller reckon-
ed no less than one hundred and thirty-four joints in each
arm of one of his specimens. Their sides are clothed with
spines, which are rough and conic, scarcely as long as half

THREAD-RAYED BRITTLE-STAR.

43

the breadth of the rays, and arranged in rows of about five
in each row. The body is dark-reddish brown ; the rays
red or flesh-colour, with a reddish line down the centre of
each scale. The ovaries, which are large, and of a bril-
liant orange-red, sometimes are seen through the disk, and
give it the colouring represented in Muller’s figure. The
disk of one of my specimens measures three-tenths of an
inch across ; and from ray to ray the distance is seven
inches.

The most remarkable peculiarity in this Starfish’s or-
ganization remains to be described, and has as yet, as far as
I am aware, escaped notice either in this or any other species
of its tribe. All the spines on each lateral ray-plate resem-
ble those of other Ophiura, except the third (counting from
above). Instead of tapering to a point, as the others do,
both in this and in all other described Ophiocoma, this spine
is longer than the rest, and is furnished at its extremity with
two transverse-curved spiny processes, giving it exactly the
form of a pickaxe. Eight or nine notches are seen on the
broad apex. To what end is this singular modification of
structure devoted ? Why should this species present such
a curious armature, and not any of its congeners ? The
reason is not hidden from us. This Ophiocoma lives in
soft slimy mud, and thus has to make its way through a
very different medium from that inhabited by most other
Brittle-stars. The position, the increased size, and the
pickaxe heads of these strange spines, are just the modi-
fications of structure especially adapted to further loco-
motion in such a locality. They may be compared to the
lateral hooks or bristles of many earth-boring Annelides,
and serve for the same purposes. The contrivance is a
very beautiful example of the adaptation of organization
to the locality in which the creature is destined to live.

44

OPHIUR^E.

How truly doth old Rondeletius speak out of the studies
of the marine zoologist : “ Immensa et summe admira-
bilis Dei potentia atque solertia in rebus coelestibus, iis-
que in aere et terra hunt, maxime vero in mari, in quo
tam variae et stupendae rerum formae conspiciuntur, ut
quaerendi et contemplandi nullus unquam futurus sit
finis.1’

The vignette is a view of the ruins of Peel Castle.

LONG-ARMED BRITTLE-STAR.

45

OP II I U R I DIE.

OPIIIURJE.

THE LONG-ARMED BRITTLE-STAR.

Ophiocoma brachiata. Montagu.

Specific Character . — Disk round, or subpentangular, notched, imbricated above
with small smooth scales ; sides rough. Two oblong diverging plates opposite
the base of each ray. Rays very long. Upper ray- scales transversely oblong ;
lateral ray-plates, each bearing eight or nine thick obtuse spines, which are
shorter than the breadth of the ray.

Asterias brachiata , Montagu, Linn. Trans. VII. p. 84.

Ophiura brachiata , Fleming, Brit. An. p. 488. Blainv. Man. d’Actin. p. 243.

Among the most ardent investigators of the animals of
the British seas, Colonel Montagu stands conspicuous.
Whilst the discoveries of other sea-searching naturalists
are too often dubious and unsatisfactory, owing to the

46

OPHIURJS.

imperfect descriptions they have transmitted of the sub-
jects of their observations, there is no question about the
identity of any animal Montagu described. It is not
merely the copiousness of his descriptions which gives
them their peculiar value, though their fulness is a great
merit ; nor merely their perspicuity, though that is a still
greater merit ; but it is their logical character, that instinc-
tive perception of the essential attributes and relations of
each species, which is the most important faculty a natu-
ralist can possess. Too many of our older naturalists (and
can we claim exemption from the fault yet?) described
forms as if there could be no creatures existing with which
those forms might be confounded ; they wrote of the
animals they were characterizing, as if the whole book of
Nature was already in print. Montagu was a forward-
looking philosopher : he spoke of every creature as if one
exceeding like it, yet different from it, would be washed
up by the waves the next tide. Consequently his descrip-
tions are permanent ; and when he had full opportunities
of examining any marine animal, subsequent observers have
but little to add to his words. Had Montagu been edu-
cated a physiologist, and made the study of Nature his
aim, and not his amusement, his would have been one of
the greatest names in the whole range of British science.

The singular animal before us is one of the discoveries
of that great naturalist. Its general appearance is so
similar to that of the last species that, having specimens of
each before, I had put them aside as one, until corrected
by my friend Mr. Thompson, who, luckily, persisted in
the assertion that the Asterias brachiata of Montagu was
not the Asterias filiformis of Muller ; and, a close
examination of the specimens which he had been so for-
tunate as to preserve of the brachiata , showed the minute

LONG-ARMED BRITTLE-STAR.

47

correctness of Montagu’s description, and the very great
differences which distinguish these two spider-legged Brit-
tle-stars. It would he an injustice to the discoverer not
to give his account of the species in his own words.
“ Body roundish, or subpentangular, covered above with
small oval scales, disposed in ten alternate broad and
narrow rays ; the smaller rays rather conic, terminating
between two oblong smooth plates, placed at the junction
of each arm ; the arms are five in number, extremely long
and slender, very gradually decreasing to their ends :
each of these is composed of between three and four hun-
dred articulations, which appear like so many smooth
scales above and beneath. The sides are furnished with
very small moveable spines, eight or nine in a row, at
every joint ; the scales near the body beneath are bisul-
cated longitudinally ; and the arms at that part run quite
to the centre or mouth, which is a small cinquefoil, and
appears to be formed of four little plates regularly placed
at each angle. On the body between the arms the surface
is rough with minute papillae ; colour, when alive, pur-
plish brown, and sometimes bluish ash colour.

“ Diameter of the body scarce half an inch ; length of
the arms from seven to eight inches, making in all an
extent of about sixteen inches, or four feet in circum-
ference. One in my cabinet, whose body is only three-
eighths of an inch diameter, has the arms seven inches in
length, which is more than eighteen diameters of the body :
a disproportion not before noticed in any species of
Asterias.

“ This extraordinary animal is taken in sand at one
particular part of Salcomb Bay, where that article is col-
lected for manure. The only perfect specimens obtained
were such as had been dried in a heap of the sand. In

48

OPHIUR-iE.

any other way it would be impossible to kill them without
breaking into small pieces from the extremely fragile
quality of the arms or rays.”

The Irish specimens agree in every particular with those
described by Montagu. In addition to his description I
may mention that the body is thick and firm. The plates
opposite the origins of the rays have a deep sulcation
running across them near their upper extremities, where
the plates of each pair nearly touch, hut diverge greatly
towards the lower. The spines which border the rays are
nearly of equal thickness throughout their length ; their
ends are obtuse, and when highly magnified, they do not
present so many rough points at their sides as the spines
of most Brittle-stars, and especially those of the last species
do. In each transverse row of spines those of the two
extremities are a little larger than the others. The great
number of spines in each row, and their shortness, are
doubtless conveniences for the aiding of the animal’s move-
ments through the wet sand. The curious fluting of the
under surfaces of the rays is not to he seen in any other
British species of this genus. The plates between the
origins of the rays are somewhat triangular in form, and
furrowed across.

Mr. Thompson obtained two specimens by dredging on
a sandy bottom off Dundrum, county Down, in August
1836. He had previously found one in a very young state
during the year 1835 in Belfast Bay, and subsequently
at Strangford in rock-pools among Gorallina officinalis.

Of the two first-mentioned, the body of the more perfect
was four lines in diameter ; the arm least broken mea-
sured three and a half inches, and where broken was
nearly as broad as at the base.

Dr. Fleming refers Pennant’s Asterias minuta , which

LONG-ARMED BRITTLE-STAR.

49

I make a synonym of my Ophiocoma minuta , to this
species.

Mr. Couch in his “ Cornish Fauna,” mentions this species
as an inhabitant of the shores of Cornwall.

Probably the “ Ophiura filiformis ” mentioned as Irish
in Mr. Templeton’s catalogue of the Rayed Animals of
Ireland was the Long-armed Brittle-star.

The vignette represents a view of the north-west coast
of the Isle of Man, and the ruins of St. GrermahTs
Cathedral.

E

50

ophiur^:.

OPHIURIDJE .

OPIIIURM.

GRANULATED BRITTLE-STAR.

Ophiocoma granulata. Link.

Specific Character. — Disk round, flat, minutely granulated. Upper ray-scales
transversely oblong ; lateral ray-plates, each bearing from four to seven slender
spines, longer than the breadth of the ray.

Stella scolopendroides granulata , Link. p. 50, tab. xxvi. fig. 43 ; Encyc. Metr.

pi. cxxiv. f. 2, 3.

Asterias nigra , Muller, Zool. Dan. III. p. 20, t. xciii. fig. 1-4.

Ophiura granulata, Fleming, Brit. An. p.488. Johnston, Mag.

of Nat. Hist. vol. IX. p. 595, f. 67. Blainv.
Man. d’Actin. p. 243.

Ophiura echinata , Lam. 1 Edit. II. p. 543 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 223.

Ophiocoma granulata , Forbes, Wern. Mem. VIII. p. 127.

Ophiocoma echinata , Agassiz, Prod.

This Brittle-star is remarkable for haying its disk so
closely covered with minute spines that no appearance of
the real surface is seen, consequently it has hitherto always
been described as having a body without scales ; whereas,
if we rub away the granulated or spinous surface, we shall

GRANULATED BRITTLE-STAR.

51

see a squamous skin beneath, exactly similar to that pre-
sented in the Ophiocoma filiformis and its allies, only the
scales are much smaller. Looking at the body in its
ordinary state, we also see no trace of scales opposite the
origins of the rays as in the other Brittle-stars, which, if
it were really the case, would reduce the presence of those
scales from generic, or rather family rank, as sources of
character to specific importance ; hut if we examine the
denuded disk very attentively, we shall find there are two
such scales of a triangular form placed in the usual posi-
tion, though at a greater distance from each other than
is usual in the genus. There are some foreign species
nearly allied to the one before us, which form a gradation
between it and our other Brittle-stars ; since in them we
see the granulated surface as in ours, but denuded for a
little space above the plates or scales opposite the origins
of the rays, so as to allow them to peep out, as it were,
from their hiding-places. The granules composing the
second surface of the disk, are extremely stunted little
spines, themselves rough with sharp points.

The rays are smooth, covered above with transversely
ovate scales, and beneath with nearly square plates.
Their margins are clothed with spines arranged in trans-
verse rows of from one to three, being most numerous
towards the origins of the rays. There are also two little
obsolete or undeveloped spines at the edge of each of the
under ray-plates. The rays taper gradually, and vary in
their proportions as compared with the disk, but are ge-
nerally from three to three and a half times as long as
the disk is broad. The ray-spines are long, slender, and
sharp, and when magnified appear very rough. Beneath,
the origins of the rays are separated by ovate-triangular
transverse plates.

The disk of this species generally measures half or three-

52

OPHiums.

fourths of an inch across. It sometimes grows much
larger. Mr. Ball has a specimen six inches in diameter ;
the disk half an inch broad : and I have one before me at
present which measures eight inches across the rays.
Like its allies it is extremely frangible when alive, and
has the power of reproducing its rays when they are
broken off. On its frangibility Mr. W. Thompson com-
municates the following note : — “ The power of this ani-
mal to break itself up is exemplified in an interesting
manner by a specimen in Mr. Ball’s collection. He placed
it on a sheet of paper, and glued down each part as it
broke it off, thus exhibiting the appearance presented by
the fossil species.”

Muller’s name well applies to the usual colour of this
Brittle-star : the disk and rays are commonly black, or
brownish black ; the ray-spines dusky white or bluish.
Sometimes the disk is prettily variegated, and there is a
variety of an orange colour not uncommon in the Irish
Sea. Mr. Goodsir and I found some specimens in Shet-
land, of a most beautiful delicate rose colour. It appears
to be very generally distributed on our shores, though local.
Mr. Couch finds it in Cornwall ; Dr. J ohnston, at Berwick ;
Mr. Thompson, in Strangford Lough, and the open sea on
the coast of Down ; and Mr. Ball, common about Dublin.
I believe Dr. Fleming was the first to note it as a British
species, having found it in Kirkwall Bay, Orkney, unless
the Asterias spluzrulata of Pennant be this Brittle-star,
which I think is not improbable. It inhabits both the
open sea and saltwater lochs in from seven to thirty
fathoms water. I have never heard of its occurrence
in a littoral locality. It is found throughout the seas
of Northern Europe. Templeton at home, and Della
Chiagi abroad, have mistaken varieties of Ophiocoma
rosula for it.

DAISY BRITTLE-STAR.

53

OPHIURIDM.

OPHIURJE.

DAISY BRITTLE-STAR.

OpMocoma bellis. Link.

Specific character. — Disk subpentangular, convex, covered with small rosulated
scales, divided by spinous spaces. A cordiform depression opposite the origin
of each ray. Upper ray-scales ovate, separated and bordered by granular plates.
Lateral ray-plates, bearing from four to six conical flattened spines, which are
shorter than the breadth of the ray.

Bellis scolopendroides , Link, t. xl. f. 71.

Asterias aculeata, Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2841 ; Zool. Dan. III. p. 29,
t. 99.

Ophiura bellis ,

Ophiura Flemingii ,
OpMocoma bellis ,

Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 488. Johnston, Mag. Nat.

Hist. VIII. p. 595, f. 66.

Leach, Zool. Misc. II. p. 56.

Forbes, Wern. Mem. VIII. p. 126.

This species is one of the prettiest of its tribe. The
disk is large and subpentangular, and generally bulges out

54

OPHIUR^E.

between the insertions of the rays. The upper surface is
ornamented with oval, round, or angular plates, variously
arranged, and surrounded hy numerous, very short, blunt,
little spines, which in some places cover considerable por-
tions of the disk. The general arrangement of the plates
on the disk is as follows : — A round central plate, surrounded
at a little distance by a circle of five semicircular plates,
each of which is placed at the apex of a cordiform depres-
sion, the base of which is at the origin of a ray. Several
large and small plates stud this cordiform depression, some-
times irregularly, sometimes in a regular row. The little
spines mingled wfith these plates are smaller than those
on other parts of the surface, and sometimes the depres-
sions are bordered by larger spines. The intermediate
spaces have a row of plates proceeding from the centre to
the margin. This intermingled surface of spines and plates
gives the disk that likeness to a daisy-flower, whence it
has been called “ bellis*>’ by some ; nor is the flower at all
degraded by the comparison, for but few daisies can show
such beauty either of form or colour as is presented by this
little Sea- star. Beneath there are no plates on the much-
rounded angles between the rays, the whole being thickly
studded by the little spines. Between the origins of each
pair of rays there is a little broad angular plate. The
rays themselves vary much in length, and are generally very
thick and rather flat. They are covered above by trans-
versely ovate plates, each of which is surrounded by a
border of little, flat, roundish granules, seeming like a
brooch set in a frame of gems. Sometimes these plates
are divided into two or three pieces ; and when such is
the case, the pieces are similarly framed by granules. The
rays are bordered by rows of thick, compressed, obtuse
spines, generally six in each row, the largest uppermost,

DAISY BRITTLE-STAR.

55

and they scarcely so long as the ray’s breadth. The
under surfaces of the rays are studded with transverse,
oblong, quadrangular plates, which are set at a little dis-
tance from each other. The rays taper rather suddenly
to their extremities. The disk is generally of a reddish
colour, the plates being lighter, giving it a beautifully
variegated appearance. There is a variety having a yellow
star on the body. The rays are generally reddish, banded
with darker bands, or with yellow. Some varieties are
entirely of a deep chocolate hue. The proportions of the
disk and rays vary much ; hut generally the rays are not
more than three times as long as the disk is broad, yet I
have seen specimens in which they were twice that length.
In Shetland specimens occur having their bodies one inch
across ; generally, however, three quarters of an inch is
the measurement of the disk. The Shetland specimens
are larger in all parts than those of the Irish Sea or Eng-
lish coast, and are much more vividly coloured ; and
varieties occur in the latter locality, having a very small
disk.

This Ophiocoma was first figured by Link, who re-
ceived his specimen from Greenland. It was afterwards
observed in the Norwegian seas by Muller, who figured
it in the Zoologia Danica. In Britain it was first noticed,
on the Scottish shores, by Dr. Fleming; and Dr. Leach,
apparently unaware of its having been described before,
named it after that distinguished Scottish naturalist. It
is by no means an uncommon species. On the English
coast Mr. Couch takes it in Cornwall, and Mr. Bean finds
it at Scarborough “ under stones at very low tides, rare.”
In Scotland it is found on both east and west coasts, and
is very abundant in a few fathoms water in Orkney and
Shetland. In the Irish Sea it is common in deep water, oif

56

OPHIURiE.

the shores of the Isle of Man. On the Irish shores Mr.
Thompson and Mr. Hyndman take it by dredging in the
lochs of Strangford and Belfast, and Mr. Ball in Dublin
Bay.

In texture this Ophiocoma is much more leathery than
its allies. It is a good subject in which to examine the
nervous system. Surrounding’ the mouth, but at some
distance from it, is a white nervous cord, which seems
double ; radiating from it are fifteen pairs of nervous
threads, which are arranged in threes, but have not a
common origin, — indeed, there appear to be no ganglionic
enlargements. Of each set of three pairs the central goes
to the body between the rays, and the two lateral run
up the sides of two different rays, so that each ray is pro-
vided with two pairs from two different sets. This ar-
rangement is very distinct and easily seen, by removing the
upper surface of the disk and the enclosed stomach and
ovaries.

GOODSIR S BRITTLE-STAR.

57

OPHIU RIDJE.

OPIIIURJE.

GOODSIITS BRITTLE-STAR.

Ophiocoma Goodsiri. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Disk round, convex, imbricated with small smooth scales.
Two triangular, parallel, but not touching scales, opposite the origin of each ray.
Upper ray-scales transversely ovate ; lateral ray-plates, bearing four spines each,
which scarcely equal the breadth of the ray.

The tracing of the connections between species and
species, through minute differences combined with general
resemblances, is one of the greatest pleasures which enliven
the studies of the naturalist. Every here and there in
organized nature we find creatures presenting the forms
of one species and the structure of another, filling up a
supposed blank, or overturning a supposed barrier. The
discovery of such forms frequently annihilates genera
which we had long considered fixed, or brings together
species which we had long* looked upon as but doubtfully

58

OPHIURJE.

related to each other. There are men who affect to look
down on the investigator of “ mere species,” who, with
patronizing self-sufficiency, talk of the “ humble observers
of minute differences of forms,” and who scarcely rank
the recorder of new animals or plants above the mere col-
lector or virtuoso. Yet such persons affect perfectly to
understand the great laws of nature ; and will write on
what they are pleased to term the philosophy of natural
history, often without the knowledge of a single form
or structure save from a picture in a book. The hu-
mility which the knowledge of the abundance of undis-
covered things teaches the practical naturalist, prevents
him retorting on such would-be philosophers ; and know-
ing how little we yet know, he scarcely ventures to pro-
nounce any law general. He knows too well that the
conclusion he drew in the morning is often overturned
by the discovery he makes in the evening, to pronounce
himself the lawgiver of nature ; yet also knowing, from
the perfection of all he sees around him, that the ma-
chinery of nature is perfect, and hoping the laws of that
machinery discoverable, he points out the indications of
those laws wherever he perceives a glimpse of their in-
fluence, and works as trustfully towards the develope-
ment of the truth.

The pretty Ophiocoma which I have named after my
friend and companion in research, Mr. Goodsir, forms a
beautiful link between the scaly and the plated Brittle-
stars. Before I saw this species, I had some doubts as to
the propriety of retaining those two variations of character
in the one genus, and suspected that Ophiocoma rosula
was the type of a separate group. In the species under
consideration, however, we find scaly rays and an imbri-
cated body, with so much of the habit of the Daisy Brittle-

goodsir’s brittle-star.

59

star, that it is not until we look closely at its very distinct
characters, we can recognise it as something different from
the young of that species. The disk of the OpJiiocoma
Goodsiri is round, smooth, and very convex, covered with
small imbricated scales, which are rosulated in the centre,
the central scale being as usual in such cases largest.
Opposite the origins of each of the rays are two triangular
plates, which do not diverge, hut are separated from each
other by a few scales. There are on one of the specimens
a few minute spines towards the margin of the disk near
these plates. Beneath, the intermediate plates are tri-
angular. The rays are covered above with transversely
oblong plates, which are slightly imbricated. Each of
the lateral ray-plates hears four conical spines, which are
rather shorter than the breadth of the ray. These spines
are not so rough as they usually are in this genus. The
plates of the under surface of the rays are somewhat
heart-shaped. The rays are about three times as long
as the body. The colour of the whole animal is white,
variegated with bright-red, the disk being beautifully
variegated, and the arms prettily belted. The disk mea-
sures a little more than two-tenths of an inch across.

The first specimen of this species was found by Mr.
Goodsir in a Cod’s stomach taken off Anstruther in Fife-
shire. When we were in Shetland, we found a second
adhering to a branch of Cellepora cervicornis, brought from
deep water by the Ling fishermen, so that we may regard
it as a deep-sea species.

60

OPHIURyE.

OPHIURIDJE.

OPHIURJE.

COMMON BRITTLE-STAR.

Ophiocoma rosula. Link.

Specific Character. — Disk convex, rounded, covered with spines of various
lengths. Two large triangular parallel plates opposite the origin of each ray.
Upper ray-scales triangular, carinated, imbricated. Lateral ray-plates, bearing
five spines each, which are much longer than the breadth of the ray.

Rosula scolopendroides , Link, pi. xxxvii. fig. 65 ; pi. xxvi. fig.

xlii. Encyc. Metr. pi. cxxiii. f. 6-7.
Borlase, Cornwall, t. xxv. fig. 1 9-24.
Asterias ciliata , Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. No. 4842.

Asterias fragilis , Abilgaard, in Muller’s Zool. Dan. III.

p. 28, t. xcviii.

Asterias pentaphylla, varia, aculeate, hastate, fissa, et nigra , Pennant, Brit. Zool.

IV. pp. 64, 65, Nos. 64-69.

Ophiura ciliaris, fragilis , et rosularia , Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert. 1 Edit. II. p.

545-6 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 224-6.

Leach, Zool. Misc. II. p. 54.

Ophiura vulgaris ,

COMMON BRITTLE-STAR.

61

OpMura rosula , Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 489. Johnston, Mag. Nat. Hist.

IX. p. 281, f. 26.

OpMura spinulosa, Risso, Hist. Nat. d’Eur. Merid. p. 272, No. 12, pi. vi. f. 30.
OpMura fragilis , Blainville, Man. d’Actin. p. 244.

OpMocoma rosula , Forbes, Wem. Mem. VIII. p. 127.

Stella echinata , Rondelet, Liber de Insect, p. 123.

Of all our native Brittle-stars this is the most common
and the most variable. It is also one of the handsomest,
presenting every variety of variegation, and the most
splendid displays of vivid hues arranged in beautiful pat-
terns. Not often do we find two specimens coloured alike.
It varies also in the length of the ray-spines, the spinous-
ness of the disk, and the relative proportions of rays and
disk ; and in some places it grows to a much greater size
than in others. It is the most brittle of all Brittle-stars,
separating itself into pieces with wonderful quickness and
ease. Touch it, and it flings away an arm ; hold it, and
in a moment not an arm remains attached to the body.

The body is round and convex, but when in egg some-
times bulges into a pentangular form. It is usually thickly
covered with long spines, the only parts of the surface free
from them being the large triangular plates opposite the
origins of the rays, which are separated from each other
by rows of spines, the spaces between the two, which com-
pose each pair, being very narrow. There is a variety,
however, which has the disk very rough, but not covered
with long spines. Beneath, the rays are separated at their
origins by small, oblong, pentangular plates. The rays
are covered above with small, triangular, carinate, obtusely
pointed scales, which lap over one another, like tiles on the
roof of a house. Beneath, they are clothed with trans-
versely oblong plates. The lateral ridges are broad, and
each bears five very long, tapering, rough spines, which
are sometimes nearly three times as long as the breadth

62

OPHIUR.E.

of the ray, but in general are not quite so long, being
about twice the breadth. These spines, when highly mag-
nified, present a very complicated structure ; and their
roughness arises from spine-like processes on their surface.
When the animal is alive, a membrane appears to web
these processes together ; but I have never been able to
observe anything like ciliary motions excited around the
spines. Between each row is a pinnated cirrhus, which
likewise does not appear to be ciliated. It is very flexible,
and can be withdrawn in great part within the ray.
Bound the mouth are twenty tentacula, ten external, and
ten internal, similar in structure to the cirrhi. The rays
vary in their proportions to the disk, but are usually from
four to five times as long as the disk is broad. The disk
generally measures in a fair-sized specimen about four-
tenths of an inch across. It is sometimes of a dusky rose-
colour, with gray scales ; sometimes white, spotted with
red, often marked with a star of red or yellow ; and occa-
sionally nearly black. The rays are generally white or
gray, banded with bright pink ; often of a deep blue,
with rose-coloured spines, or banded with bright yellow,
or speckled with brown and orange. The spines have
sometimes brown tips and blue bases. Little red spots
are often seen on each of the points of junction of the rays
beneath ; but as they are not constant, nor always of the
same form, I cannot regard them as ocular. When the
creature is in egg, the ovarian masses shine through the
body, giving it a yellow tinge between the rays ; they
are reniform and yellow, and transversely striated in con-
sequence of the arrangement of the round yellow eggs.
In the month of April, instead of eggs, I have often found
those masses filled with a milky fluid which, when mag-
nified, presents the spectacle of a great number of very

COMMON BRITTLE-STAR.

63

minute round bodies, swimming about in all directions
with eccentric motions. Are not these spermatic animal-
cules? and may not Hermaphrodite animals, such as the
Ophiurse, be at one time male and another female ? or
are there two sexes of these creatures? These questions
must be investigated. The membrane including the ova-
ries is covered with vibratile cilia.

The Ophiocoma rosula seems to be equally abundant on
all parts of the coast of Britain and Ireland. It frequents
oyster, and other shell-banks in great numbers ; and is in
many places, as on the west coast of Scotland, and on
some parts of the east of England, found on the shore at
low water. It is fond of rocky places, but is rare in sandy
localities. In Shetland it grows to a much larger size
than elsewhere, and the spines of the Shetland specimens
are longer than those from other localities.

The Common Brittle-star often congregates in great
numbers on the edges of scallop-banks, and I have seen a
large dredge come up completely filled with them ; a most
curious sight, for when the dredge was emptied, these
little creatures, writhing’ with the strangest contortions,
crept about in all directions, often flinging their arms in
broken pieces around them, and their snake-like and
threatening attitudes were by no means relished by the
boatmen, who anxiously asked permission to shovel them
overboard, super stitiously remarking that “ the things
weren’t altogether right.” Rondeletius, who figured and
described this species long ago, well describes their mo-
tions : — “ Radiorum flexuoso motu serpentum ritu repit
haec stella, et in sicco posita eos movere nunquam desinit,
quousque in partes disiecerit, quae separate etiam moven-
tur per flexus : ut vermiu partes, et lacertorum caudae
abscissae.” He says they prey on little shells and crabs.

64

OPHIUR^E.

They constitute a favourite article of diet in the Cod
fish’s bill of fare, and great numbers of them are often
found in the stomach of that fish. They seem to inhabit
all parts of the European and Mediterranean seas.

The vignette represents part of a spine of this Brittle-
star highly magnified, exhibiting a structure, the lightness
and beauty of which might serve as a model for the spire
of a Cathedral.

SAND BRITTLE-STAR.

65

OP III U RIDJE.

OPHIURJE.

SAND BRITTLE-STAR.

Ophiocoma minuta. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Disk flat, pentangular, covered with, short, rough, trifur-
cated spines. Two triangular, slightly diverging scales opposite the origins of
each ray. Upper ray-scales triangular, imbricated. Lateral ray-plates hearing
three or four spines each, which are longer than the breadth of the ray.

Ophiocoma minuta , Forbes, Wern. Trans. VIII.

p. 127, pi. iv. f. 8.

Hirsuta sen stella grallatoria vel macrosceles Luidii, Link, p. 50. ?

Asterias minuta , Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p.

63, No. 61. ?

This is a critical species, very nearly allied to the last.
Though convinced of its distinctness, and though there is
no mistake about its habit, I find it very difficult to dis-
tinguish the one from the other in words. That it is not
the young of the rosula will at once be seen by comparing
it with a common Brittle-star of the same size ; for then
the latter will be found to have the centre of the disk as
yet cartilaginous, and its spines will present that peculiar
glistening frosted appearance seen on the spines of all

F

66

OPHIURJE.

young Ophiurse, while the flatness and firmness of the
disk, and the general aspect of the OpJiiocoma minuta have
all the aspect of maturity.

The disk, which I have never found to exceed two-
tenths of an inch in breadth, is pentangular and flat,
covered above with very short, rough, trifurcated spines.
Opposite the base of each ray are two large triangular
scales. The rays are imbricated above with short sub-
carinated triangular scales, and clothed below with square
plates. Their sides are set with transverse ridges, each
bearing three or four long, sharp, pectinated spines, one-
fourth of their length longer than the breadth of the ray.
The rays are generally more than six times as long as the
disk is broad.

It is a very pretty species, the centre of the disk being
generally occupied by a white pentangle, which is bordered
by deep red, the plates opposite the rays being bluish-
grey. The rays themselves are grey, belted with rose-
colour ; and the spines are some white, others rose. It
lives buried in sand at very low water. I have hitherto
found it only on the shore of Ballaugh, Isle of Man.

Mr. W. Thompson records it in the Annals of Natural
History for May 1840, as an inhabitant of the north of
Ireland, and mentions that it has also been found in Court
Muskerry Harbour (county Cork) by Mr. Allman.

I think it not unlikely that this is the “ Hirsuta seu
Stella grallatoria vel Macrosceles Luidii,” said by Link to
have been found by Llhewyd at Denbigh in Wales, and
called by Pennant Asterias minuta.

SHETLAND ARGUS.

67

OPHIURIDJE.

EURYALES.

Genus Astrophyton. Link.

Generic Character. — Rays five, branching dichotomously from their roots, with
cirrhous extremities.

THE SHETLAND ARGUS.

Astrophyton scutatum. Link.

Specific Character. — Disk radiated above with granulated ribs ; rays rounded
above, flattened beneath, with spiniferous tubercles at the angles.

Astrophyton scutatum , Link, t. xxix. No. 48. Fleming, Brit. An. p. 489.

f 2

68

EURYALES.

Asterias caput- Medusa, Linnaeus, Syst. 1101. Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod.

2844. Turton, Brit. Fauna, 149.

Asterias arborescens , Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p. 67, No. 73.

Euryale verrucosum , Lamarck, 1 Edit.yol. II. p. 539 ; 2 Edit. vol. III. p. 216.

Euryale scutatum, Blainville, Man. d’Actin. p. 246.

The Euryales connect tlie Ophiurse with the Crinoidese,
to which they bear considerable resemblance, both in form
and in habits. The genus Astrophyton of Link, called
Euryale by Lamarck, and Gorgonocephalus by Leach, is
considerably removed from the last genus which we con-
sidered, namely, Ophiocoma ; but there are animals in-
habiting distant seas, such as those of the genus Trichaster ,
which link the one form with the other.

The only British Astrophyton is a very rare animal. It
was first observed on the coast of England by Borlase,
the Cornish antiquarian and naturalist, who found it on
the coasts of his native county. In Scotland it was
first recorded as a native by the celebrated naturalist of
Edinburgh, Professor Jameson, who found it on the coast
of Zetland, where it has since been observed by Mr. Nicol
and Dr. Charlton. In Orkney it was found by Mr. Low ;
and it would appear also to inhabit the south-east coast of
Scotland, as in a manuscript of the late Captain Laskey,
he mentions having found “ a great Medusa ’s-head Star-
fish in a herring-net at Dunbar.” It is a native of the
Arctic seas and the coasts of Norway; it is also said to
inhabit the Indian seas.

The body is somewhat pentangular in form, and radiated
above with warty ribs ; the mouth is five-radiate, and
placed in the centre of the under surface of the disk in the
midst of the origins of the arms. The arms branch dicho-
tomously nearly from their origins. They are composed

SHETLAND ARGUS.

69

of narrow calcareous joints, and are rounded above with
precipitous sides, but flattened beneath. On the lower
angles are placed transverse tubercular ridges with rows
of spines, five, six, or seven in number near the body, but
fewer as the arms grow smaller. The flattened surface of
the arms is covered with small rounded granules, not
placed in any regular order, and not all of one size.
The upper surface is likewise granulated ; but the gra-
nules marking the separation of the plates are arranged
in two transverse regular rows. On the thicker parts of the
arms there are sometimes scattered a few spines, short,
thick, flattened, and somewhat conical in form, resembling
the spines on the tubercles. The extremities of the rays
are very much attenuated and branched, the branches
curling and interlacing. The Astrophyton scutatum mea-
sures a foot or more across.

The singular aspect of this animal has long excited
admiration among naturalists. Rondeletius especially ex-
presses his wonder ; and Bradley remarks in his W orks
of Nature, p. 50, 44 So odd a creature as this is well worth
the contemplation of such curious persons as live near the
sea, where every day they have subjects enow to employ
their curiosity and improve their understanding.” Grew,
in his account of the Museum of the Royal Society, tells
us that 44 As he swims he spreads and stretches out all
his branches to their full length ; and so soon as he per-
ceives his prey within his reach he hooks them all in, and
so takes it as it were in a net.” My friend, Mr.
Thomas Edmonston, jun. of Unst, Zetland, informs me
that 44 it is very rare, and is not found so far from land as
the Piper (Cidaris papillata). The fishermen (by whom it
is called 4 Argus’) occasionally catch it; but in clean-

70

EURYALES.

ing their lines before landing, generally throw it and other
animals overboard. They report that it always clings
fast round the lines, and that it takes some effort to dis-
engage it.”

The vignette represents the upper and under surface of
one of its arms, an arm-joint, and the oval surface of the
disk.

71

THE TRUE STARFISHES.

ASTERIADJE,

OR CIRRHIGRADE ECHINODERMATA.

The beauty and symmetry of tlie true Starfishes at-
tracted the attention of such observers of nature as dwelt
by the sea-side from a very early period, and several kinds
are noticed by ancient authors. No separate treatise,
however, was devoted to their history until the year 1733,
when a splendid folio volume, containing figures of a great
many species and varieties, with short descriptions attached,
was published by John Henry Link, an apothecary at
Leipsic. Link was a fellow of the Royal Society, and
studied botany as well as zoology. He wrote an account
of the coffee-tree ; and Micheli dedicated a genus of plants
to him in honour of his botanical acquirements. He died

72

ASTERIADJ3.

in 1734, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. His work is
a very valuable one, chiefly on account of the figures it
contains, which have been often copied, and which have
in fact supplied most of the representations of Starfishes
extant. Link distributed the Starfishes under many ge-
nera, hut on false principles. His mistakes arose from
want of opportunities of studying the animals in a living
state. In most respects he is much in advance of sub-
sequent writers on the subject.

A fanciful analogy between the form of these Radiata
and the popular notion of a star, has originated a name
applied to them in most maritime countries, — a name
which has given rise to a fine thought or two. “ As there
are stars in the sky, so are there stars in the sea,” is
Link’s first sentence. “ Coelorum spectare sidera decet
juvatque Astronomos : Physicorum interest stellis marinis
visum intendere,” saith Christian Gabriel Fischer in his
preface to Link’s volume. Our own poet, James Mont-
gomery, whose inspiration has revelled gloriously among
the wonders of Nature, beautifully expresses the same
analogy,

The heavens

Were thronged with constellations, and the seas

Strown with their images.

The true Starfishes are either stellate or angular in
form, the angles or arms being dilated processes of the
body. They are covered with a tough leathery integu-
ment, which is more or less strengthened by a network of
calcareous plates, and in most species with strong spines
variously arranged. The entire surface is also clothed
with a finer and softer membrane, and through pores the
lining membrane of the interior pouts out. Among and
on the spines in many species are seen curious pincer-like

ASTERIADiE.

73

bodies, which will be described hereafter. The under
surface of the body presents the mouth in the centre, and
deep grooves radiate from it to the extremities of the arms.
These grooves contain the suckers, curious tubular exten-
sile organs, filled with a fluid, and capable of adhering to
the surfaces of bodies by means of a terminal disk. They
serve as feet, and by means of them the animal can walk
about with great facility. They are arranged in longi-
tudinal rows. On the dorsal surface is seen a wart-like
striated body placed laterally between two of the rays :
this is the madreporiform tubercle or nucleus. When the
animal is cut open, there is seen a curved calcareous
column running obliquely from the tubercle to the plates
surrounding the mouth ; Dr. Sharpey says it opens by a
narrow orifice into the circular vessel. It is connected by
a membrane with one side of the animal, and is itself in-
vested with a pretty strong skin, which is covered with
vibratile cilia. Its form is that of a plate rolled in at the
margins till they meet. It feels gritty as if full of sand.
When we examine it with the microscope we find it to
consist of minute hexagonal calcareous plates, which are
united into larger plates or joints, so that when the in-
vesting membrane is removed it has the appearance of a
jointed column. Professor Ehrenberg remarked the former
structure, Dr. Sharpey the latter : they are both right.
Both structures may be seen in the column of the common
Crossfish. The latter distinguished anatomist, speaking
of the probable uses which have been conjectured as the
purposes of this singular organ, says, “ Tiedemann con-
ceives the function of the sand canal (the term he
applies to it) to be that of secreting the earthy matter
required for the growth of the calcareous skeleton. Mi-
cheli considers this view as very improbable ; — and the

74

ASTERIADiE.

description we have given does not tend to corroborate it
— and adds, “ We must confess ourselves unable to offer
more than mere conjecture as to the use of this singular
structure. If the fluid contained in the feet and their
vessels be sea-water (either pure or with an admixture
of organic particles), which is probable from its chemical
composition, may it not be introduced and perhaps again
discharged through the pores of the disk and the calcareous
tube, the porous disk serving as a sort of filter to exclude
impurities I do not agree with either of these expla-
nations. My friend, Dr. Coldstream of Leith, has sug-
gested one much more satisfactory to my mind, and of a
more philosophical character, namely, that this singular
column is the analogue of the stalk of the Crinoid Star-
fishes. We see the tubercle indicating it in the Urchins,
which are free ; but we find no traces of it in the Cri-
noideae or in the Ophiuridae, the former of which are cer-
tainly fixed animals in the young state, the latter pro-
bably so.

The centre of the true Starfish’s interior is occupied by
the stomach, which is thin and membranous, rounded, and
slightly lobed, and which has but one external orifice ;
from it branch out into each arm two caeca, which are of
a similar texture, and very much pinnate and ramified.
They, as well as the stomach and the lining membrane of
the body, are covered with very minute vibratile cilia.
The appearance of these caeca I regard as a first step
towards the separation of the respiratory organs from the
digestive. Higher up among the Echinodermata we find
those caeca almost separated from the digestive system,
and mainly appropriated to the purposes of respiration.
Above the stomach in some species are seen pyriform
sacs, the special uses of which are unknown. On each

ASTERIADJE.

75

side of each arm is a branched ovary, which opens ex-
ternally near the union of each pair of arms, though the
aperture is seen with difficulty, saving when the animal is
in full egg. On the under surface of the interior of the
arms are seen rows of round bladder-like vesicles; these
are the vesicles of the feet, and they are connected with
vessels which communicate with a vascular circle surround-
ing the mouth. The internal walls of the suckers and
their vessels are ciliated, and a continual circulation of the
fluid they contain goes on within them. The nervous
system has been described by Tiedemann, the great anato-
mist of Heidelberg. It is a white circular cord surround-
ing the mouth, and sending off branches to the arms.
Professor Ehrenberg says these nerves run to the ex-
tremity of the arms, and that there is a nervous ganglion
under each of the red spots which are seen near the tips
of the rays, and which from analogy may be regarded as
eyes of low organisation. The existence of ganglions in
the nervous system of these animals is, however, generally
regarded as doubtful.

The number five is dominant among the Echinodermata ,
and we accordingly find it regulating the forms and organs
of the Starfishes, though numerical variation more fre-
quently occurs in this order than among the Ophiurse or
Sea-Urchins. In no British genus of true Starfishes is
number positively specific, though generic in several. In
Luidia and Solaster it is of least importance. The num-
bers of variation are generally four and its multiples, which
we might expect when we consider that four is the domi-
nant number of the parallel order of Actinodermata .

The genera of Asteriadse are founded on characters
derived from the outline of the body, the number of rows
of suckers in the avenues, and the structure and arrange-

76

ASTERIADA3.

ment of the spines covering the surface and bordering the
avenues. These characters represent respectively the di-
gestive, the motor, and the tegumentary systems. As
might be expected, those derived from the last, it being
characteristic of the order, furnish the most constant cha-
racter. Useful characters may be drawn from the form
and arrangements of the spinous eyelids ; but the madre-
poriform tubercle, which several Continental authors have
suggested as a good source of distinctive character, fur-
nishes none of importance, either generic or specific. The
sources of specific character are various in the different
genera. The spines of the skin furnish the most impor-
tant ; colour, probably, may be ranked next ; and pro-
portions of parts last, though in some genera of great im-
portance.

The causes which seem to affect the distribution of
Mollusea on the British coasts do not appear to influence
that of the true Starfishes. There are as many kinds
found in Cornwall as in Zetland belonging to the same
genera, and even identical as species. A very few seem
to prefer the western to the eastern shores of Britain, or
vice versa. The multiplication of individuals is of course
affected by the nature of the sea-bottom. When we look
abroad, climate appears to affect but slightly the forms of
this tribe. The Cushion-stars, perhaps, present some in-
dications of tropical influence, and of a concentration of
their genus in the eastern seas ; but among other Star-
fishes neither form nor colour are remarkably modified by
geographical position. Of the numbers and distribution
of true Starfishes in the primajval seas we cannot well
judge, their substance and structure being such as to be
ill adapted for preservation in a fossil state.

The British species of Asteriadse may be arranged under

ASTERIADiE.

77

four families. First, The Urasterijs, Stellate Starfishes,
with rounded arms, and four ranges of suckers in each
avenue. Of this family we have but one genus, Uraster.
Second, The Solasteri^e, also stellate (sometimes multi-
radiate), with rounded arms, but only two ranges of
suckers in each avenue, such as Cribella and Solaster.
Third, The GfoNiASTERiiE, which are pentagonal, and have
two ranges of suckers. To this family belong the genera
Asterina , Palmipes, and Goniaster. And fourth, The
Asterijg, including Asterias and Luidia , stellate Starfishes,
with the upper surface of the body flat.

W'

78

URASTERIiE.

ASTERIADJE.

URASTERI/E.

Genus U raster. Agassiz.

Generic Character. — Body stellate, few-rayed ; rays rounded, spinous ; avenues
bordered by three sets of spines ; suckers quadriserial.

SPINY CROSS-FISH.

Uraster glacialis. Lin. Ag.

Specific Character. — Rays long, pentangular, the angles with large strong
spines ; avenues regularly tapering.

Asterias glacialis , Linn. Lam. Anim. sans Vert. 1 Edit. II. p. 861, No. 26 ;

2 Edit. III. p. 248. Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2838.
Asterias echinophora , Della Chiagi, Mem. vol. II. p. 356. pi. xviii. f. 5.

SPINY CROSS-FISH. 79

Asterias angulosa , Muller, Zool. Dan. II. p. 1, t. xli. ; Encyc. Metr.

pi. cxix. f. 1.

Sol echmatus cancellatus , Link, f. 33, tab. xxxviii.-ix, Encyc. Metr. pi.

cxvii.-xviii.

Stellonia glacialis, Ag. Prod. Forbes, Wern. Mem. vol. VIII. p. 123.

,, ,, Junior ,

Asterias spinosus , Pennant, IV. p. 62. Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 487.

Pentadadylosaster spinosus. Link, p. 35, t. iv. No. 7. Encyc. Metr. pi. 119,
f. 2, 3.

Stella Hibernica echinata , Petiver, Gaz. t. xvi. fig. 5.

The Starfishes of the genus Uraster are distinguished
from all others by having four rows of suckers in each
of the avenues which groove the rays beneath. In con-
sequence of the great number of these singular organs, the
under surface of a living Crossfish presents a sight truly
curious and wonderful. Hundreds of worm-like suckers,
extending and contracting, coiling and feeling about, each
apparently acting independently of the others, give the idea
rather of an assemblage of polypi than of being* essential
parts of one animal. Sensitive in the extreme, if we touch
one of those singular tubes when outstretched, all those
in its neighbourhood are thrown into a state of agitation ;
and when it shrinks from our touch, changing from a
lengthy fibre to a little shrunk tubercle, some of its neigh-
bours, as if partaking in its fears, contract themselves in
like manner. If we cut one off, however long it may have
been at the moment of injury, all its power of extension
is instantly gone, and in an inconceivably short time it
changes its form, contracting into a little knob-like mass.

The first species of this genus which we have to describe
is one easily distinguished by its very angular arms and
large strong spines. The Spiny Crossfish grows to a large
size. Mr. Couch describes a specimen, the diameter of
which across the disk and rays was no less than thirty-
three inches, the largest of the rays being fourteen inches

80

URASTERIJ3.

long ; the diameter of the disk in one direction three and
a half, and in another three inches : the rays at their
origins were two inches wide, the breadth of the disk being
to the length of the ray as two and a half to twelve. The
specimen from which my figure was taken is of more
ordinary dimensions, being fifteen inches across, the longest
ray seven inches and a half long and one inch in breadth,
which was also the breadth of the disk. This species
varies greatly in its proportions ; but the rays are always
more taper in proportion to the disk than those of any
other British Uraster. The rays are acutely pentangular
and tapering, the uppermost angle forming a keel. The
angles are crowned by strong conic spines placed on tuber-
cles, and surrounded towards the base by a circle of nu-
merous spinules. The intermediate spaces are strongly
reticulated. Here and there among the reticulations are
scattered a few large spines similar to those on the angles.
The surface is also covered by little divided pincer-like
spinules, which organs are seen on all the species of the
genus. The madreporiform tubercle is small, finely striate,
and placed very lateral. Beneath, the avenues taper to
the ends of the rays, and the border spines are shorter,
finer, and less conic than those crowning the angles. The
disk is very prominent and round ; it is reticulated, and
provided with spines similar to those on the rays, but not
so numerous. The rays are not so firmly attached to the
disk as in the other species of Uraster. “ The weight of
the body,” says Mr. Couch, “ cannot be sustained, or even
turned over, by lifting it by the rays without separating
them.” I have dredged up living rays without bodies,
evidently in consequence of this facility of separation. It
is doubtful, however, whether the animal has the power
of throwing them off voluntarily, as is the case with Luidia

SPINY CROSSFISH.

81

and the Ophiurse. I do not think it can. The colour is
reddish or orange. A specimen taken on the Manx coast
was bright red. Mr. Couch describes his example as
44 reddish brown ; tufts round the spines yellow ; interior
of the stomach pale-green.’’

The Spiny Crossfish is a local species, as far as I know
confined to the western shores of Britain. I have taken
it in Skye and elsewhere among the Hebrides, half buried
in sand and gravel, at low water ; also in the Kyles of
Bute by the dredge in fifteen fathoms. Mr. B. Ball has
taken it in deep water at Youghal on the Irish coast,
where he found many specimens of Natica Alderi, a fa-
vourite article of food with the Starfishes, in its stomach.
Dr. J. L. Drummond has found it in a young state at
Belfast ; and Mr. Allman has frequently procured it on
the south-west coast of Cork, where it is abundant, chiefly
on a rocky bottom. Mr. Philip Maclagan found it on the
coast of Ayrshire. Mr. Wallace has a specimen from
deep water on the Manx coast ; and Mr. Couch records
it as a native of Cornwall, also from deep water.

The 44 Pentadactylosaster spinosus regularis ” of Link,
found by Luid in Cornwall, and on the west of Ireland,
was, I doubt not, the young of this species. Petiver
figures the same as 44 Watty Penson’s Sea-star from Ire-
land.” When young, the rays are much shorter in pro-
portion to the body than they afterwards become. When
very young, only an inch or two across, Ur aster glacialis
bears a close resemblance to the young of the next species ;
but is easily distinguished by having the spines conic,
thickest at the base, whereas in Ur aster rubens they are
nearly of the same thickness throughout.

The Starfish usually called Aster ias glacialis by British
authors, is not this but the next species. This, however,

82

URASTERI^E.

is the species of Linnaeus, as may be seen by consulting the
characteristic figures of Link to which he refers. Asterias
tenuispina of Lamarck is, I doubt not, a variety of this,
with more rays than usual. The Asterias Saveresi of
Della Chiagi is also a variety ; and that author does
wrong to unite Asterias molacea of Muller with the Uraster
glacialis.

Its rarity is probably owing to its habitat, rocky places
in deep water. The Hebridean locality is an exception ;
but it is a remarkable fact, one which I have elsewhere
pressed on the attention of geologists when considering the
Mollusca, that whenever, as in the Hebrides, the tides fall
but a few feet, these animals, usually inhabitants of deep
water, may be found living' above low water mark. This
holds good as well in regard to Radiata as to Mollusca ;
and the mixture of species generally considered inhabitants
of the depths of the sea, with truly littoral species, should
a fossil bed be formed, might lead to false conclusions
unless such fact be borne in mind. Thus a change in the
tides of a line of coast would materially affect its fauna.

COMMON CROSSFISH.

83

ASTERIADJE.

URASTERIJE.

COMMON CROSSFISH.

Ur aster rubens. Lin. A g.

Specific Character. — Rays about three and a half times as long as the disk is
broad, rounded, very spiny. Avenues lanceolate.

Asterias rubens , Linn. 1099, Fabr. Fauna Groen. p. 369. Muller, Zool.

Dan. Prod. p. 2830. Lam. 1 Edit. II. p. 562 ; 2 Edit.
III. p. 160. Blainv. Man. d’Actin. p, 239, pi. xxii. A. B.
Baster, t. xii. fig. 1-4. Link, pi. vii. fig. 9 ; pi. xi. fig.
15 ; pi. xiv. fig. 23 ; pi. xv. and xvi. fig. 18 ; pi. xxx. fig.
50 ; pi. xxxiv. and xxxv. fig. 58 ; pi. xxxvi. fig. 67 ; pi. xl.
fig. 70. Enc. pi. cxiii. f. 1,2; pi. cxii. f. 3, 4.

Asterias glacialis , Penn. Brit. Zool. IV. p. 60, No. 54. Fleming, Brit. An.

p. 487. Couch, Cornish Fauna. Hogg, Stockton-on-Tees-
Asterias clathrata , Penn. Brit. Zool. IV. p. 61, No. 55. {Junior.)

Stellonia rubens , Agaz. Prod. Forbes, Wern. Mem. VIII. p. 121.

g 2

84

URASTERIiE.

The Common Crossfish has generally five rays, occa-
sionally six, and not nnfrequently as few as four. The
rays are rounded, and taper gradually to a point. They
are commonly about three and a half times as long as the
disk is broad, and the breadth of each is somewhat less
than a third of its length. Both disk and rays are reti-
culated, and at the angles of the reticulations arise conical
blunt spines, the bases of which are surrounded by circles
of thickly-studded spinules. The spines generally form a
more or less regular keel on the upper surface of each ray,
and sometimes an irregular circle round the disk. In the
spaces between the reticulations are numerous small, cleft,
pincer-shaped, flattened, pedunculated spinules. Beneath,
the avenues taper according to the shape of the rays, and
are not so contracted at their origins as in the next species.
The edges of each avenue are bordered, first, by thickly-
set, long, thin, tapering spines, which have frequently
several spinules projecting in a radiant manner from their
inner side near their tips. Next to these are transverse
rows of stout spines, similar to those on the rays above,
but larger and stronger. There are generally three in each
row, and their bases are surrounded by tufts of spinules.
At some distance from these spines bordering the upper
surface of the ray is a row of similar spines, not so thick
or strong, placed longitudinally in pairs. At the extremity
of each ray we find the eyes surrounded by a circle of move-
able spines, not different from the ray-spines near them,
either as to form or size. The mouth is protected by spines
of a similar nature with and but little longer than those
forming the immediate edging of the avenues. The suckers
are cylindrical, nearly equal in thickness throughout their
lengths, and furnished with globose extremities. They are
very extensile, especially those near the extremities of the

COMMON CROSSFISH.

85

rays. The madreporiform tubercle is placed near the mar-
gin of the disk, between the origin of two of the rays. It
is large, convex, and finely striate, with waved radiating
striae which bifurcate towards the margin. The colour of
this species is generally yellow or orange ; sometimes pur-
ple or red. It occasionally measures more than a foot
across, and generally from nine inches to a foot. In very
young specimens the pincer-shaped spinules are frequently
wanting. In that state it is the Asterias clathrata of
Pennant.

The Common Crossfish varies considerably, sometimes
in colour, sometimes in the breadth of the rays, which,
when much attenuated, approach nearly in character to
those of the next species. There is a variety common in
the Frith of Forth, in which the spines of the dorsal ridge
are much developed and very prominent. Another variety
has the upper surface of a deep purple colour, the under
surface yellow, the arms much broader, and the skin more
leathery in texture than usual. It is a littoral form, and
for distinction may be called Ur aster rubens , B. coriacea.

This species abounds on most parts of 6ur shores. It
may he regarded as the most common native Uraster. In
the Irish Sea it inhabits various depths of water, from
thirty fathoms to a few feet. At Liverpool it occurs under
stones at low water. In the Frith of Forth it is abundant
in from seven to ten fathoms. It ranges from Devonshire
to Zetland. Dr. Johnston takes it at Berwick-on-Tweed ;
Mr. Bean, at Scarborough ; Mr. P. Maclagan on the
Ayrshire coast ; and Mr. W. Thompson at Dublin and Bel-
fast. The coriaceous variety occurs abundantly under
stones at low water, and creeping on the sides of jetties
on many parts of the Fifeshire coast. Mr. Ball finds the
same form common at Youghal in Ireland, where it occurs

86

URASTERL/E.

nine inches in diameter, and grows much larger. The
variations in the number of the rays of the Crossfish fur-
nished Link with many supposititious species. These varia-
tions are sometimes congenital, but more frequently the
result of injury. It has the power of reproducing rays
broken off ; and I add a figure of a very remarkable speci-
men, kindly communicated by Mr. Bean of Scarborough,
in which no less than four of the rays have been broken
off and are reproduced, giving from this small developement
a most strange and unradiate appearance to the creature,
converting it from a star into a comet. The oyster fisher-
men fancy that it loses its rays in consequence of its oyster-
hunting propensities, that it insinuates an arm into the
incautious oyster’s gape, with the intent of whipping out
its prey, but that sometimes the apathetic mollusc proves
more than a match for its radiate enemy, and closing on
him holds him fast by the proffered finger ; then the Cross-
fish, preferring amputation and freedom to captivity and
dying of an oyster, like some defeated warrior, finding

“ The struggle vain, he flings his arms away,

And safety seeks in flight.”

This story has long been believed. Link gives a vignette
representing the mode of attack, with the motto, “ Sic
struit insidias.” Doubtless the Crossfish is a sworn enemy
to oysters, a submarine Dando ; but there is reason to
think he destroys his prey in a very different manner from
that just narrated. Starfishes are not unfrequently found
feeding on shellfish ; in such cases they enfold their prey
within their arms, and seem to suck it out of its shell with
their mouths pouting out the lobes of the stomach. They
can project the central parts of their stomachs in the man-
ner of a proboscis. Mr. Ball once found one embracing
a Mactra stultorum, which was pierced with a hole, and

COMMON CROSSFISH.

87

the Starfish had inserted a sucker through the hole. Mr.
Ball’s impression was, that the Starfish had made the per-
foration. I should rather consider it the action of some
siphonostomatous Gasteropod, which, not having extracted
its prey, the Uraster was devouring the remains, and
perhaps sounding with its sucker the prospects of a meal.
M. Eudes Deslonchamps has published some interesting
observations on the feeding of this species in the Memoirs
of the Linnaean Society of Calvados for 1825. He tells us
that when the tide was out, and while two or three inches
of water remained on the sand, he saw balls of Asterias
rubens , five or six in a hall, their arms interlacing, rolling
about. In the centres of the balls were Mactrae stultorum
in various states of destruction, but always unable to close
their valves and apparently dead. Does not the Starfish
in such cases destroy its food by a poisonous secretion, and
thus master the Shellfish? Uraster rubens has long been
believed to secrete an acrid fluid from its skin, which burns
the skin of those who handle it. This story is repeated in
works of natural history to the present day ; yet I have
handled hundreds without having felt any such sensation,
and I never met any person who had felt it. Pliny tells
us Starfishes can burn all they touch (lib. ix. c. 60) ; also
Aldrovandus and Albertus, who said their nature was so
hot that they cooked everything they meddled with.
Link thought that their eggs had been mistaken for cooked
food ; and Luid, who was an out-door naturalist, denied
the notion altogether. Possibly it arose from confounding
them with the stinging Medusae, which are also called
Sea-stars by many, and confounded by the vulgar with
Starfishes. Sir Thomas Browne notes on this notion,

“ Stella Marina, or Sea-stars in great plenty about Yar-
mouth. Whether they be bred out of the Urticus, Squal-

88

URASTERIiE.

ders, or Sea-jellies, as many report, we cannot confirm ;
but the Squalders in the middle seem to have some lines
or first draughts not unlike.” — (Works, Wilkin’s Edit. vol.
iv. p. 333.) Although there is no good reason to believe
the skin of the Uraster secretes an acrid and poisonous
fluid, the stomach possibly may, and the inquiry offers a
good subject for experiment. The Starfishes of this genus
prey on all kinds of Mollusca, and are very commonly
found with Natica Alderi in their stomachs, the animal of
which being large and fleshy must furnish them with ex-
cellent nourishment. They do not confine themselves,
however, to Mollusca, as will be seen by the following
note furnished me by my friend Mr. W. Thompson.
“ September 19, 1837. — W. D. an intelligent fellow, tells
me that he has frequently, when fishing in Belfast Bay,
taken Starfish on his hook ; they seized upon the lugworm
(Lumbricus marinus) he was using as bait, and when
drawn up, the 4 centre’ (to use his own words) of the animal
was always fastened to the hook. The 4 pluck’ of the
Starfish was such as to induce him to believe he had
hooked a fair-sized fish. I showed him specimens of our
native Asteriadse, when he identified the Uraster rubens ,
and it alone, as the intruder.”

The Uraster rubens is popularly called 44 Crossfish,” and
44 Five-fingers,” on most parts of the English and Scottish
coasts. In Cornwall it is called Clam or Cramp. The
fishermen of Newhaven, near Edinburgh, tear them across
the stomach in order to destroy them before returning
them to the sea ; and there are local regulations in many
places prohibiting the dredgers to throw them overboard
alive. In Bishop Sprat’s History of the Royal Society,
we are told that the Admiralty Court laid penalties on
those engaged in the oyster fishery 44 who do not tread

COMMON CROSSFISH.

89

under their feet, or throw upon the shore, a fish which
they call Five-finger, resembling a spur-rowel, because that
fish gets into the oysters when they gape and sucks them
out.” Dr. J. L. Drummond of Belfast favours me with
the following note on their Irish denomination. 44 The
Starfishes are called at Bangor (county Down) the j Devil's
fingers , and the DeviVs hands , and the children have a
superstitious dread of touching them. When drying some
in the little garden behind my lodgings, I heard some of
them on the other side of the hedge put the following
queries. 4 What’s the gentleman doing with the bad man’s
hand ? Is he ganging to eat the bad man’s hands, do ye
think V ”

On the east and south coasts the Crossfishes are used
for manure in large quantities ; and Lamarck tells us that
they serve the same purpose on the coasts of France,
where the species under consideration is equally abundant
as in Britain. A gardener told me that he would desire
no richer manure than Starfishes for his garden.

Common as this species is, its history has been involved
in sad confusion as regards synonyms. Of the older
authors it is certainly the Asterias rubens , and Otho Fabri-
cius describes it with his accustomed accuracy under that
name. The Asterias rubens of Dr. Fleming appears to he
strangely compounded of this and Solaster endeca. Dr.
Johnston described the Luidia fragillissima under the
same name ; and in the new edition of Lamarck, by some
oversight, his description is referred to among the syno-
nyms of the true rubens. Blainville’s references are cor-
rect, as also those given by Stewart in his 44 Elements of
Natural History.” Link gives many characteristic figures
of it, one of which is from a British specimen, called by
Luid 44 Lutea vulgaris.” Baster figures it, and tells us that

90

URASTERI^E.

these stars are not only able to creep, but also to swim ;
which is probable, since Mr. Couch (who calls it Asterias
glacialis after Fleming) tells us in his Cornish Fauna, that
it is “abundant in the early months of spring, but they
retire to deeper water in summer.” The same ardent natu-
ralist has also a note on the species in the twenty-seventh
number of the new series of the Magazine of Natural
History, where he says, “ This species is in great abun-
dance in spring, being found in multitudes in the fisher-
men’s crab-pots, the baits of which they readily find. As
the season becomes warmer they disappear, and in summer
comparatively few are seen.” In the same place he de-
scribes the following remarkable monstrosity of this “ the
Clam or Cramp. It is of the ordinary size, and possesses
eight rays ; but to distinguish it from the simple duplica-
tion of parts, it possesses three of those circular dorsal
organs, the use of which is uncertain, but of which a
common specimen possesses only one. These three occupy
triangularly one-half of the disk, and seem connected with
four of the rays, the other four lying distinct from them.”
Probably the result of the union of three ova.

VIOLET CROSSFISH.

91

A STEM AD JE. URASTEMJE.

VIOLET CROSSFISH.

Uraster molacea. Muller.

Specific Character. — Rays from two and a half to three and a half times as
long as the disk is broad, rounded, spiny, tapering suddenly to their apices.
Avenues pyriform-lanceolate.

Asterias rubcns molacea, Muller, Zool. Dan. t. lxvi.

Sol coriaceus planus. Link, p. 33, t. xi. No. 15.

Asterias violacea, Linn. Gmel. p. 3163, No. 24. Blainv. Man. d’Actin.

p. 239. Lam. Anim. sans Vert. 2 Edit. III. p. 256.
Ehrenberg, Berlin Trans, vol. XXII. p. 209,
t. viii. f. 9.

The Violet Crossfish is a critical species. At times it
is very difficult to distinguish it from the last species ; yet
after a thoughtful study of very many specimens, I feel
convinced they are distinct. Muller doubted, and appa-
rently could not make up his mind ; for he figures it as

92

URASTERIiE.

“ Asterias rubens molacea .” In both animal and vegetable
kingdoms there are genera in which we find habit of equal
or greater importance than minute character, in which
every organ and appendage are liable to variation, and
yet the sum of them is such as to render the recognition
of a species at sight easy, though it be difficult to say
wherefore we pronounce on its name. Doubtless this is
according to a fixed law as yet undiscovered; and if
smaller groups and variations be analogous to the greater
divisions of the kingdom to which they belong, it is to be
expected, seeing that a fifth part of the animal kingdom,
according to the greater modifications of structure as in-
dicated by form, presents habit as a distinguishing cha-
racteristic.

The TJr aster molacea has the rays generally from two
and a half to three and a half times as long as the disk
is broad. They are broad at their origins, and at about
half their length they taper suddenly to their extremities.
They appear marginated, from having the upper row of
avenue spines placed very high, much higher than in
rubens. The upper surface of the rays and disk is strongly
reticulated and spinous, and the central ridges are very
regular, the spines upon them being closely set and sur-
rounded by spinules. They do not stop short at the disk
as in the last species, but meet in its centre. The spaces
between the reticulations are covered with pincer-shaped
spinules. These spinules are more pointed than the same
organs in Uraster rubens. Beneath, the spines bordering
the avenues are arranged as in the other species of the
genus. The avenues partake of the form of the rays,
being suddenly attenuate towards the extremities, very
wide towards their origins, and very much contracted at
the mouth. The form of the avenues is very constant,

VIOLET CUOSSFISH.

93

and affords the best characters for the distinguishing of
species in this genus. The colour of Uraster molacea varies
much, and is often very beautiful, being of a bright orange,
or rich red, with blue spots, and beneath not uncommonly
straw colour. Frequently the rays are of a livid purple
towards their extremities. The bases of the spines are
often surrounded with a ring of blue. The madreporiform
tubercle is very lateral, the strise coarse, undulating and
radiating from the centre, often bifurcating towards the
base.

This species is apparently gregarious, and somewhat
confined in its habitats. In the Frith of Forth it is ex-
ceedingly abundant. Off Anstruther, at the mouth of the
Frith, it is by far the commonest species ; and the fisher-
men bring up great numbers of them on their lines, while
Uraster rubens seldom occurs. Dr. Johnston informs me
that it is the most common species on the coast of Ber-
wickshire, while the rubens is rare. High up the estuary
of the Forth the rubens is common, and molacea scarce.
In some parts of the Irish Sea it is not to be met with.
On the coast of Ireland, however, Mr. Thompson states
it is common at Belfast, Dublin, and Youghal, and is
found mixed with rubens. Mr. Goodsir and I took it in
Orkney and Shetland. At Scalloway in the Shetland
Isles we found a remarkable variety, which at first sight
had much the aspect of a distinct species. The rays
tapered from their bases and were very narrow. The
central and lateral ridges of spines had the spines placed
at considerable distances from each other in an extremely
regular manner. The spinules round the bases of the
spines, which were as usual in this species long and taper-
ing, were highly developed. Very few spines were scat-
tered over the reticulations of the rays ; but a good num-

94

URASTERI^E.

ber over the surface of the disk. Beneath, the avenue
spines of the second row were longer than usual. The
avenues presented the usual character. Although so much
attenuate, the rays in this variety bore the same propor-
tions to the disk as in the common form of the species.

The dimensions of the Violet Crossfish vary much. In
some places they are seldom found measuring more than
four or five inches across. In other localities they attain
the magnitude of the common Crossfish.

The vignette is a view of Breda Head, Isle of Man.

LITTLE CROSSFISH.

95

ASTERIADM.

URASTERIJE.

LITTLE CROSSFISH.

TJr aster hispida. Penn.

Specific Character. — Rays short, rounded, spinous. Avenues ovate.

Asterias hispida , Penn. Brit. Zool. IV. p. 62, t. xxx. f. 58.

Stellonia hispida , Forbes, Wern. Mem. VIII. p. 123.

Stella coriacca acutangula hispida , Link, p. 31, t. ix. f. 19 ; t. xxxv. f. 39.

The Uraster hispida is the smallest of our native Cross-
fishes. It was first distinguished by Pennant, who gives
a figure sufficiently characteristic to enable us to identify
the species, though very different animals have been re-
ferred to his Asterias hispida. This species seldom mea-
sures more than an inch and a quarter across. The rays
are very broad and short, being but little longer than the
breadth of the disk, in some specimens even shorter. The
body is very convex, and generally of a bright rose colour.
Pennant’s specimen was brown. The upper surface is
reticulated ; stout spines of nearly equal thickness through-
out their length, and mostly simple at their bases, crown-
ing the angles of the reticulations. The ridge down the
centre of the very gibbous arms is often very indistinctly

96

URASTERIJE.

marked. Beneath, the spines bordering the avenues are
longer and finer than those on the reticulations, and are
arranged in the same manner as in other species of Uraster.
The avenues are elongato-ovate in form, — a good distin-
guishing character throughout this genus.

The little Crossfish is a scarce species, and where found
does not seem to occur in much plenty. Pennant found it
in Anglesea. I have taken it at Arisaig, on the coast of
Ross-shire, in crevices of the gneiss rocks at low water ; and
under stones on the shore in the Kyles of Bute. It occurs
also on the east coast of Scotland, as I found several speci-
mens cast up by a storm on the sandy shore at St. An-
drew’s, in December 1839. Dr. Coldstream found it among
limestone rocks at Castletown, Isle of Man ; and Mr. W.
Thompson informs me it occurs, though rarely, on the
coast of Down in Ireland. The Irish specimens were only
ten lines in diameter. Captain Portlock has taken it in Bel-
fast Bay. I am not aware of any instance of its occurrence
out of Britain ; but it probably will be found on the Scandi-
navian shores. It may easily be passed over as the young
of one of the more common species, but is very distinct.

The Starfishes of the genus Uraster have a very wide
geographical distribution. The Common Crossfish has been
observed in Greenland, and other places very far north,
and is found in the Mediterranean, and on the south-
western shores of Europe. The Spiny Crossfish has a
similar distribution. A species very nearly allied to it,
having broader and shorter rays, but very similar in the
arrangement of its spines, has been found by Mr. Wallace
on the coast of Peru at Islay. A Starfish, very nearly
allied to rubens , but differing in the fineness and greater
number of its spines, is preserved in the Hunterian collec-
tion from the Arctic Seas. This may possibly occur on

LITTLE CROSSFISH.

97

our own shores. The Violet Crossfish is found on the
Norwegian coast, and in the Baltic Sea.

Anciently the Urasters were used in medicine. They
were given internally as a decoction with wine in hysterical
diseases, and against epilepsy. The physicians of old
times, members of a profession never very remarkable for
logical acumen, applied them externally in hernia, from
some fanciful analogy between their pouting stomach and
the appearance of the rupture. Any medical man, who
would wish to revive the practice, will find the prescriptions
carefully gathered together in Link, who, however, does
not appear to have put much faith either in the medical
or gastronomical virtues of Starfishes ; yet, conceiving it
necessary to find some use for them, according to the
manner of his times, tells us they are of use to man, not
because they serve as food to him themselves, hut because
they feed the fishes, and the fishes feed him, adding,
“ Miror hinc et in providentia divina sapientiam.”

In describing the species of Ur aster, I have frequently
spoken of spinules, by which name I have designated those
singular pincer-shaped bodies termed by Muller Pedicel-
laritE , — bodies seen on the surface of many species of Star-
fishes and Sea-Urchins, and in the dried specimen appear-
ing like little cleft spines. Dr. Sharpey thus describes
them in his account of the anatomy of Uraster rubens : —
“ They cover the surface generally, and form dense groups
round the spines. Each consists of a soft stem, bearing
on its summit, or (when branched) at the point of each
branch a sort of forceps of calcareous matter, not unlike a
crab’s claw, except that the two blades are equal and
similar. When the point of a fine needle is introduced
between the blades, which are for the most part open in
a fresh and vigorous specimen, they instantly close and

98

URASTERI.E.

grasp it with considerable force. The particular use of
these prehensile organs is not apparent ; their stem, it may-
be remarked, is quite impervious.” I have examined them
very carefully in the same species. Those on the body
and upper spines differ in shape from those on the spines
immediately bordering the avenues. The former are much
shorter and blunter in the blades than the latter. The
calcareous forceps, of which their heads consist, are im-
bedded in an integument of a soft granular tissue, which
envelopes the forceps when closed ; and this apparatus is
mounted on a bulging body of a similar substance, which
crowns the round flexible and contractile peduncle, some-
times simple, sometimes branched, each branch having a
similar termination. I could detect no evidence of vibra-
tile cilia on their stalks ; but there appeared to he ciliary
motions within the blades. When the Starfish is alive,
the Pedicellaria are continually in motion, opening and
shutting their blades with great activity ; but when cut
off they seem to lose that power. If they he not distinct
animals, as Muller fancied, for what purpose can they serve
in the economy of the Starfish ? If they be parasites, to
what class or order do they belong l — what is their nature,
what their food \ Truly these are puzzling questions.
These organs or creatures have now been known for many
years — have been examined and admired by many natural-
ists and anatomists — have been carefully studied and accu-
rately delineated, and yet we know not what they are.
This is hut one of the many mysteries of natural history —
one of those unaccountable things which we know and
know not — of those many facts in nature which teach us
how little is man’s knowledge, and how wondrous and un-
searchable is God’s wisdom. It is folly and vanity to
attempt to account for all facts in nature, or to pretend to

LITTLE CROSSFISH.

99

say why the Great Creator made this thing, and why he
made that, and to discover in every creature a reason for
its peculiar organization. It is but another form of the
same vanity, having satisfied itself of the discoveries it has
made, to pretend to praise the all-wise Maker’s wisdom in
so organizing his creatures. That God is all-wise is a
revealed truth ; and whether the organization before us
seem excellent or imperfect it matters not — we Jcnow it is
perfect and good, being the work of an all-wise God.

The vignette represents the form of the avenues in the
Common, the Violet, and the Little Crossfishes.

H 2

100

SOLASTEBIiE.

ASTERIADJE.

SOLASTERIJE.

Genus Cribella. Agassiz.

Generic Character. — Body stellate ; rays rounded, covered, as well as the disk,
with spiniferous tubercles ; intermediate spaces porous ; avenues bordered by two
sets of spines ; suckers biserial.

EYED CRIBELLA.

Cribella oculata. Pennant.

Specific Character. — Rays and disk irregularly covered with oblong reticulating
spiniferous tubercles.

Pentadactylosaster oculatus ,
Asterias oculata ,

Linkia oculata ,

Asterias multifora ,

Asterias perforata ,

Link, p. 31, t. xxxvi. f. 62.

Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p. 61, t. xxx. f. 56.
Fleming, Brit. An. p. 487.

Forbes, Wern. Mem. vol. VIII. p. 120.

Lam. Anim. sans Vert. II. p. 565 ?

Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2834 ?

EYED CRIBELLA.

101

The genus Cribella forms a connecting link between the
Urasters and the Solasters. It has the form of the former,
with the suckers and texture of the latter. The name
LinJcia given it by Nardo must be rejected on account of
a genus of plants having been so named previously, there-
fore I have adopted Professor Agassiz’s proposed appel-
lation. At the same time I feel by no means convinced
that a name should be changed, if long established, for the
reason I have mentioned : there are great generic ap-
pellations common to both animal and vegetable kingdoms
universally adopted, and yet causing no confusion. It had
best, however, be avoided ; a repetition of the same name
generically in either of the organic kingdoms separately is
quite inexcusable.

Two species of this genus inhabit the British seas : there
are several exotic forms. The first of our native species,
the Asterias oculata of Pennant, seems strangely enough to
have been confounded, both by many British writers and
foreign naturalists, with Uraster rubens and Solaster endeca.
Its colour must have misled in the former case, its texture
in the latter. It received its name of oculata , either on
account of the moniliform pores, or the five dark spots
which occasionally mark the origins of the rays. The
pores on the surface are not characteristic of this genus
only, as Professor Agassiz seems to think. They may be
seen in many other Starfishes, and in the young of almost
all the species. In the living animal, a brownish peritoneal
membrane pouts out at each pore. Are they not subser-
vient to respiration \

The rays are five in number, rounded, and generally
nearly four times as long as the disk is broad ; they vary
in form according to the state of the animal. When it is
in egg, they are broad and swelled out at their bases;

102

SOLASTERIiE.

when not so they taper very gradually, and terminate
obtusely. The spawning season makes a very great differ-
ence in the forms of many Starfishes, always adding greatly
to their convexity, and their skin at such times is much
softer than usual. The disk and rays are covered with
oblong reticulating tubercles arranged irregularly. The
spines on these tubercles are very numerous, short and
rough. The spaces between them are porous. The
avenues are bordered by two sets of spines. That nearest
each avenue (which is very narrow) consists of regularly
transverse rows of from three to six rough spines. The
second row is composed of oblong tubercles, bearing fasci-
culi of from four to six spines. Between these two rows
there is a line of pores larger than those on other parts of
the rays. The spines protecting the mouth are a very
little larger than those on the border. At the end of each
ray is an eye, protected by an irregularly ovate ring* of
spines. Mr. Goodsir has examined this eye carefully, and
finds it to consist of a red cushion, with pits on its surface.
The madreporiform tubercle is placed laterally, and is
rudely striate with coarse undulating strise. The colour is
generally dark red or deep purple above, and straw colour
beneath. Small specimens are lighter. Occasionally spe-
cimens are taken of a bright vermilion. As in many other
Starfishes, the spines are more regularly placed on the
yellow portions than on the red. What is the relation
between these arrangements and the colour ? The Cribella
oculata seldom measures more than three inches and a half
across.

This species varies much. The spiniferous tubercles are
much more numerous and finer on most specimens from
the east coast than on those from the west. The latter
are usually found in deep water, the former at low water.

EYED CR1BELLA.

103

A very remarkable variety was obtained by my friend,
Mr. Henry Goodsir, from the deep sea-fishing off the coast
of Fife. One specimen only occurred. The rays in this
form are covered with oblong tubercles, bearing numerous
short, thick, oblong spines, which are much fewer and
larger than in the usual form. The tubercles are more dis-
tant from each other, and the oculated spaces not so nu-
merous, giving the whole animal a rough granulated ap-
pearance. The spines bordering the avenues are arranged
in transverse rows, three or four in each row, thick and
clavate : in the common form they are six or seven, more
regular and finer, the rows often being double. The suck-
ers are larger and thicker than usual. The eyelids are
similarly formed of three spines forming an arch, and two
on each side parallel. When first taken it was of a deep-
orange colour. It measures four inches and a half across,
and each ray is one inch and three quarters long. Though
presenting much of a specific appearance, I cannot regard
it otherwise than as an extreme form of the species under
consideration.

The Cribella oculata varies much in its habitat. On the
east coast I generally find it among rocks at low water ;
on the west I take it in deep water by the dredge. These
habitats are not however constant in either case. It is
very common in the Irish Sea. Pennant found it on the
shores of Anglesey. It was noticed as Irish by Mr. Tem-
pleton. Mr. W. Thompson obtained it by dredging in the
north of Ireland ; and Mr. Ball finds it at Dublin and
Youghal. Mr. Couch says it is not uncommon in Corn-
wall. Mr. Hogg records it as a native of Durham ; and
Mr. Alder informs me it is common on the coast of North-
umberland. Mr. Bean has taken the rough variety in
deep water off the coast of Scarborough, where he notes

104

SOLASTERIiE.

it as rare. A specimen which he kindly sent me for ex-
amination, measured no less than seven inches across. He
also finds the smooth variety at low water, but not com-
mon. In Scotland it is abundant on the east coast. In
the Shetland Isles it is very common at low water. One
day, when Mr. Groodsir and I were seeking for marine
animals when the tide was out in Bressay Sound, we found
the rocks covered in many places with minute round red
bodies, always in the neighbourhood of one of these Star-
fishes. On magnifying some we doubted not that they
were very young Cribella. They were quite soft, of an
orange-red colour, and presented no traces as yet of tuber-
cles or spines. They were distinctly five rayed, the rays
truncate and notched at their extremities. The truncation
and notching may be seen in very young specimens of
several other species. The parents had probably come up
from deeper water to spawn on the shore. It was in June,
and at the same time there was much spawn of Eolida ,
and other Mollusca, on rocks and stones. These creatures
swim with great facility, and many of them are to be seen
on the coast only at spawning season ; so that it would be
of great consequence to collect data as to the spawning sea-
sons of all the Mollusca and Radiata, since we may he led
into many mistakes about the geographical distribution of
species, if we do not take into account the fact that the
animals apparently absent from a coast, may be habitual
visitors at certain periods.

Having mentioned the youngest Starfishes which I ever
met with, I think it right here to allude to the interesting
observations of a distinguished Norwegian naturalist, M.
Sars, clergyman of the parish of Kind, near Bergen, on
the developement of the young of Asterias sanguinolenta of
Muller, by which species, I suspect, may be meant the

EYED CRIBELLA.

105

Cribella oculata. They were published in WiegmamTs
Archives for 1837, and an account of them is given in the
new edition of Lamarck. According to M. Sars, the little
Starfishes immediately after birth have the body depressed
and rounded, and furnished with four very short club-
shaped appendages, or arms, at their anterior extremity.
When they are a little more developed, one can distinguish
some papillae disposed in five radiating series on the upper
surface. These young Starfishes move slowly, but uni-
formly in a straight line, with their four arms in advance.
Their movement is probably effected by vibratile cilia.
Their arms serve also to fix them to or enable them to
creep slowly along the sides of rocks. At the end of
twelve days, the five rays of the body, which till then were
rounded, begin to grow ; and after eight days more, the
two ranges of feet, or tentacula, are developed under each
ray, and can assist the movements of the animal by elon-
gating and contracting themselves alternately, and by
performing the function of suckers. By that time the
swimming movements have altogether ceased. At last,
in the space of a month, the four original arms have alto-
gether disappeared ; and the animal, at first symmetrical
or binary, has become radiate.

106

SOLASTERIA3,

ASTERIA DAE.

SOLA S TER1JE.

THE ROSY CRIBELLA.

Cribella rosea. Muller.

Specific Character. — Rays and disk with regular longitudinal rows of sub-
triangular reticulating spiniferous tubercles.

Asterias rosea , Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2837. Zool. Dan. t. lxvii.

Ireland has been long looked upon as a sort of terra
incognita by British naturalists. Although it might seem
to the politician a land of plagues and agitations, to the

ROSY CRIBELLA.

107

zoologist and botanist it seemed a land of promise. Several
times the Emerald Isle has been threatened with an in-
vasion of English and Scottish philosophers, who have long
been fully convinced in their own minds, that there is a
great deal more in the Hibernian bogs than meets the
eyes of Irishmen. The botanists actually invaded the
sister country one year, determined to find out the undis-
covered riches of this El Dorado of Nature, with what
success we leave them to say : still, they retain their hopes.
But the zoologists are yet more sanguine ; and even in the
year 1840 one of our most eminent styles the land of St.
Patrick “ that very interesting, but little investigated
country Y et all this time Ireland abounds in naturalists,
true field-philosophers, whose only bad habit is the modesty
which prevents them publishing their discoveries, too often,
until some less retiring students of nature proclaim new
facts and new animals, which should have been recorded
long before. England and Scotland conjoined can scarcely
show as many zoologists engaged in original and practical
observation of their marine invertebrate animals as Ireland ;
and a great part of the additions during late years to that
division of the British Fauna has come from the sister
country. Among those, not one of the least beautiful is
the pretty Starfish which I am about to describe.

The Crilella rosea has five rounded tapering rays, which
are each four and a half times as long as the disk is broad.
The upper surface and sides of the arms and disk are
covered with triangular reticulating spiniferous tubercles,
which on the arms are arranged in regular longitudinal
rows, and are more distant from each other than in the
last species. The spines crowning these tubercles are short,
rough, blunt, and very numerous. The spaces between
the reticulations are porous. Beneath, the avenues are

108

SOLASTERI^E.

wider than in the Cribella oculata. They are bordered by
two sets of spines. The edge-row consists of transverse
ridges of long tapering spines placed two and three to-
gether. The spines projecting over the mouth are longer
and sharper. The madreporiform tubercle is very lateral,
and finely striate. It is surrounded by a border of short
spines similar to those on the spiniferous tubercles. The
eyelids are like those of the Eyed Cribella .

Mr. Ball was the first contributor of this beautiful
species to the British Fauna. He obtained it many years
ago from the Nymph-bank off Waterford, and has two
specimens in his collection. When recent he says it was
of a bright orange colour. The specimen I have figured
I owe to the kindness of my friend, Mr. Philip Maclagan,
who was so fortunate as to add this species to the Fauna
of Scotland during the summer of 1839. He found it on
the coast of Ayrshire. It measures six inches and three-
fourths in diameter. The disk is nearly an inch broad,
and the rays above half an inch thick at their origins.
Muller was the original discoverer of the Cribella rosea.
He found it on the Norwegian coast, and figures it of a
bright rose colour. The Cribella oculata would appear also
to be found in the same region, and has been observed on
the coast of France. The genus extends its range to the
West Indies.

PURPLE SUN-STAR.

109

ASTEMADJE. SO LA STEM JE,

Genus Solaster. Forbes.

Generic Character. — Body stellate, multi-radiate, covered with fasciculated
spines ; avenues bordered by three sets of spines ; suckers biserial.

PURPLE SUN-STAR.

Solaster endeca . Linnaeus.

Specific Character. — Rays nine to eleven, shorter than the breadth of the disk ;
fasciculi of spines oblong ; spines short, thick.

Asterias endeca , Linn. Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert. 1 Edit. vol. II. p. 560,
No. 23 ; 2 Edit. vol. III. p. 247. Flem. Brit. An. p. 487.
Sowerby, Brit. Misc. p. 49, t. xxiv. Johnston, Mag.
Nat. Hist. vol. IX. p. 300, f. 44 ; Encyc. Meth. pis. 114, 115.
Link, tab. 1 5, 16, No. 26 ; tab. 17, No. 27.

Solaster endeca , Forbes, Wern. Mem. VIII. p. 121.

Stellonia endeca , Nardo. Agassiz, Prod. Echin.

Asterias aspera , Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2833.

110

SOLASTERIA3.

The Solasters are suns in the system of sea-stars. Their
many rays and brilliant hues give them a distinguished
place among the marine constellations. Two species in-
habit the seas of Britain. The genus extends its range
far to the south. The Solaster helianthoides , a species
nearly allied to our common Solaster papposa , but having
many more arms, is found on the western shores of South
America. They differ from the Urasters , with which
Professor Agassiz proposed to unite them, not only in
form and arrangement of spines, but also in having only
two ranges of suckers in each avenue, whereas the Cross-
fishes have no less than four.

The Purple Sun-star has from nine to eleven rays,
which are rounded and shorter than the breadth of the
convex disk. The disk and upper surfaces of the rays are
purple ; the under surface and sides of the arms cream
colour. Both arms and disk are thickly covered with
oblong tubercles, which are scattered on almost all the
purple parts, but arranged in irregular rows on the cream-
coloured portions. Each of these tubercles is crowned by
a circle of strong rough spines, which generally surround a
central one, similar in appearance to the others. Beneath,
the avenues are narrow. Three sets of spines border them.
That immediately bordering each avenue-margin, consists
of transverse comb-like rows of from five to ten spines
webbed together towards the base. Next to these we have
transverse ridges, narrow and compressed, each bearing a
double row of shorter spines. Beyond this is a row of
tufted spines similar to those upon the upper surface, but
thicker. The madreporiform tubercle is sublateral, cir-
cular, and finely striate with radiating striae. There is a
curious aperture with a spinous border seen in the centre
of the back of this and several other Starfishes, the nature

PURPLE SUN-STAR.

Ill

of which is not rightly understood, though it appears to
bear some analogy to the anus of the Echinidse. The
largest Starfish of this kind which I have seen, measured
eight inches and a half across. It grows larger. Mr.
Ball has a specimen nine inches in diameter.

In Sowerby’s British Miscellany, this species is first
recorded as British 44 found by J ames Brodie, Esq. on the
Nain coast in the Moray Frith.” In the Irish Sea off the
Isle of Man it is not rare in deep water. Mr. Alder in-
forms me that it is frequent on the coast of Northumber-
land. Mr. Bean finds it at Scarborough 44 in deep water,
not rare.” Mr. Goodsir takes it at Anstruther. It occurs
in Orkney. In Ireland, Mr. Thompson finds it on the
coasts of Down and Antrim ; and Mr. Ball at Dublin and
Youghal. He finds Natica Alderi in its stomach.

To the pencil of Mr. Alder I am indebted for a view of
Tynemouth, a locality which has yielded many rarities to
the naturalist.

112

SOLASTERIJB.

COMMON SUN-STAR.

Solaster papposa. Linnaeus.

Specific character . — Rays twelve to fifteen, one-half as long as the breadth of
the disk ; fasciculi of spines circular ; spines long, slender.

, Astcrias papposa ,

Stella dodccactis ,
Astcrias helianthoides ,
Stellonia papposa ,
Solaster papposa ,

Linn. 1089. Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2832. La-
marck, Anim. sans Vert. II. p. 559 ; 2 Edit. III. p.
246. Fleming, Brit. An. p. 487. Johnston, Mag.
Nat. Hist. IX. p. 475, f. 69; Encyc. Meth. pi. cvii.
f. 4, 5.

Link, tab. xvii. No. 28 ; tab. xxii. No. 52.

Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p. 66, No. 72.

Agassiz, Prod.

Forbes, Wem. Mem. VIII. p. 121.

This Starfish is one of the commonest, and, at the same
time, of the handsomest of all the British species. The

COMMON SUN-STAR.

113

rays are generally twelve or thirteen in number, sometimes
as many as fifteen. They are about one half as long as
the disk is broad. They are somewhat rounded, but the
disk is flat. The upper surface is covered by tubercles,
which are arranged in regular rows on the arms, but are
scattered on the disk. Each of these tubercles bears a
bundle of long spiculiform striated spines, eighteen or
twenty in each fasciculus. On the arms there are generally
five rows of these spiniferous tubercles. The intermediate
spaces are reticulated. The madreporiform tubercle is
sublateral, and striated in a radiating manner. Beneath,
the avenues are lanceolate. Their immediate border con-
sists of longitudinal fasciculi of spines, four or five in each
fasciculus. Next to these are regular transverse rows of
spines placed on transverse ridges, eight or ten in each
row. The third series forms a bordering to the arms, and
consists of sets of from eighteen to twenty long fasciculated
spines placed on broad compressed articulated bases. The
mouth is protected by a beautiful and peculiar mechanism.
The angles formed by the joined origins of the rays each
bear an ovate sub-triangular plate, grooved down the
centre, and carrying two semicircles of long tapering spines,
which project in a comb-like manner over the mouth. A
similar organization is seen in the purple Sun-star.

In the genus Solaster the eyelid is not composed of a
circle of spines, as in most of the allied genera ; but of a
transverse terminal row, which laps like the fingers of a
hand over the eye. In Solaster papposa these spines are
separate, and much longer than those around them ; but
in Solaster endeca they are united together, or webbed,' so
as to form an almost solid piece, which is bilobed. This
eyelid forms a very perfect protection to the eye, and if
closed, it is extremely difficult to force it open against the

114

SOLASTERIJE.

animaFs will. In the very young Solaster papposa the
eye-spines are very large in proportion to the length of
the rays, forming nearly a third of their length ; and the
eyes are fully formed even then, appearing like large ver-
milion specks near the ends of the rays on the under
side. In a specimen of Solaster endeca , in which a ray had
been broken and regenerated, the eye was present, also the
eyelid, though not so prominent as usual. In cabinet
specimens of Solaster papposa the eyelids are frequently
destroyed by handling, their position rendering them very
liable to injury.

The Solaster papposa varies much in colour. Some-
times the whole upper surface is deep purple. Frequently
the disk is red, and the rays white, tipped with red. I
once took a large specimen having the body entirely deep
red, and the spiniferous tubercles bright green, presenting
a very beautiful appearance. Beneath, it is generally
white, or straw colour. Very young specimens are alto-
gether white, with the exception of the red eyes. It
grows to a considerable size. I have taken several mea-
suring nine inches across, and Mr. Ball has found one
eleven inches broad. It is very ravenous, devouring
shellfish. Mr. W. Thompson has found a Cyprsea and
Turbo Crassior in its stomach, — shells not often forming the
food of Starfishes. It frequents oyster and scallop banks,
often in great numbers, and sometimes colonises the sides
of harbours frequented by oyster-dredgers, in company
with TJr aster rubens ; but while the Crossfish puts up with
this forced littoral habitation, the Common Sun-star soon
grows tired of his new position, and in a few days generally
leaves, probably seeking for deeper water, and a more
abundant supply of food.

The Solaster papposa seems to be generally distributed

COMMON SUN-STAR.

115

round the British shores, on the east coasts of England
and Scotland. It is found at Scarborough, by Mr. Bean,
“ very common at low tides at Stockton, by Mr. Hogg,
“not unfrequently on the coast 'of Northumberland,
common, by Mr. Alder ; at Berwick, by Dr. Johnston ;
and it is very abundant in the Frith of Forth. Mr. Good-
sir and I found it in Orkney in ten fathoms water. On
the west coast of Scotland it is frequent, and abundant
in the Irish Sea. Mr. Couch finds it in Cornwall. In
Ireland, Mr. Thompson informs me it is common. Mr.
Ball finds it at Youghal, and states that at Portmarnock
it is often thrown ashore in large quantities. This species
is found on all the coasts of Scandinavia, and probably on
all those of western Europe. M. Collard de Cherres re-
cords it along with Ur aster rubens and glacialis as an in-
habitant of the seas near Finisterre. I am not aware of
its ever having been observed in the Mediterranean. La-
marck says it inhabits the Asiatic seas.

Grew mentions this Starfish in his account of the Mu-
seum of the Royal Society ; he says it is “ by some called
Sunfish : ’twas taken in the British seas.”

i 2

116

GONIASTERI.fE.

ASTERIA DAE.

GONIA STERIJE.

Genus Palmipes. Link. Agassiz.

Generic Character . — Body pentagonal, flat, thin, covered above and beneath
with fasciculated spines ; avenues bordered by longitudinal fasciculi of spines ;
suckers biserial.

THE BIRD’S-FOOT SEA-STAB.

Palmipes membranaceus. Retz.

Specific Character. — Lobes broad, ample, subacute. Colour, white, with red
rays and border.

Asterias membranaceus, Retz. Gmel. Syst. Nat. 3164. Lamarck, An.

sans Vert. 1 Edit. vol. II. p. 558 ; 2 Edit. vol. III.
p. 244.

Stella quinquefida palmipes , Link, p. 29, t. i. f. 2.

Asterias placenta. Pennant, Brit. An. IV. p. 62, tab. xxi. fig. 59, A.

Asterias cartalaginea , Flem. Brit. An. p. 485.

Palmipes membranaceus , Agassiz, Prod. Forbes, Wem. Mem. VIII. p. 119.

bird’s-foot sea-star.

117

The Bird’s-foot Starfish is a very singular species.
It is the thinnest and flattest of all its class. When alive,
it is flexible, like a piece of leather ; and a person who had
never seen it before, would he apt to mistake it for the
torn away dorsal integument of some gibbous Goniaster.
It is white, with a red centre, and five red rays proceeding
from it to the angles, and the margin is generally bordered
with red. The upper surface is covered with spiniferous
tubercles, which are arranged differently on the white and
coloured parts. On the red disk and radiations they are
smaller and closer together than on the rest of the body,
and are arranged irregularly. On the white portions they
are arranged in regular rows, the largest tubercles being
towards the disk. On the red margins they are very small,
and closely placed in regular rows, running from the edge
towards the centre. Each of these marginal rows has a
tuft of spines at its extremity, projecting beyond the out-
line of the body. The spines are short, acute, very
numerous, and radiate on the summits of the somewhat
oblong tubercles. When they are rubbed away in a dried
specimen, the surface of the skin appears regularly tes-
selated. The madreporiform tubercle is small, flat, striat-
ed, and placed towards the centre of the disk. Beneath,
the spiniferous tubercles cover the triangular spaces, and
are arranged in regular rows. They differ greatly in form
from those above, being linear, and bearing the spines in
a single row of from five to nine in number, the central
ones longest. This arrangement gives a pectinated ap-
pearance to the tubercles. The avenues are bordered by
longitudinal fasciculi of larger spines ; those immediately
around the mouth are largely developed. At each angle
the margin is notched, and forms a little hood for the
protection of the eye.

118

G0NIASTERIJ3.

This species grows to the size of five or even six inches
in diameter. It is generally accounted very rare, but is
by no means uncommon in deep water in the Irish Sea off
the coast of the Isle of Man, where I have dredged many
specimens. On the English coast it was long ago noticed
by Pennant, who describes it from Weymouth. Mr. Couch
takes it in Cornwall. Mr. Hogg, in his Natural History
of Stockton-on-Tees, records a specimen “caught near
Hartlepool, in the summer of 1821.” In Ireland, Mr.
Templeton found it in Strangford Loch, where it has also
occurred to Mr. Thompson. Mr. Ball found a specimen
six inches in diameter at Youghal, the only one he ob-
tained, though said by the fishermen not to be uncommon
there. The Rev. Mr. Landsborough has found it on the
coast of Ayrshire in Scotland.

The Palmipes membranaceus ranges from the Arctic
seas to the Mediterranean ; and there are one or two other
species belonging to the genus. The Asterias calcar of
Lamarck, a native of the seas of New Holland, is referable
to it ; and the Asterias rosacea of the same author is nearly
allied to our native species. Comparing the BirdVfoot
Sea-star with its exotic allies, it would seem that colour
is a true source of specific character in this genus, and that
the form, depth, and acumination of the lobes are also cha-
racters of great importance.

THE GIBBOUS STARLET.

119

ASTERIADJE.

GONIA STERIJE .

Genus, Asterina. Nardo.

Generic Character. — Body pentagonal, gibbous, thick, covered above and
below with short spines ; avenues bordered by a single row of spines ; suckers
biserial.

THE GIBBOUS STARLET.

Asterina gibbosa. Pennant.

Specific Character. — Dorsal spines short, thick, arranged in pairs ; spines
beneath in regular rows.

Pentaceros plicatus ,

Stellula hibernica glabra ,

Asterias exigua ,

Asterias minuta ,
Asterina minuta ,
Asterina gibbosa ,

Link, t. xxxvi. No. 62. Borlase, Cornwall, p. 260,
t. xxv. f. 25, 26.

Petiver, Gaz. t. xvi. f. 8.

Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p. 62, No. 59.

Lamarck, 1 Edit. vol. II. p. 554 ; 2 Edit. vol. III.
p. 241.

Blainville, Man. d’Actin. p. 238.

Nardo. Agassiz, Prod.

Forbes, Wern. Mem. VIII. p. 120.

The Asterina gibbosa is the least of the British Asteriada.
Large specimens measure only an inch across. The body
is pentangular, with the angles produced. It is very
gibbous. Above, it is covered with tufts of short thick

120

GONIASTERIJ2.

spines, ranging from two to six in each tuft, arranged in
regular rows, which on the rays proceed from the disk to
the angles. The madreporiform tubercle is small, coarsely
striate, and sub-central in its position. Beneath, the tri-
angular spaces are covered with spines, arranged similarly
with those above, but not grouped in tufts, being mostly
single. The avenues are very narrow and deep, and are
bordered by longitudinal tufts of spines arranged in threes.
The spines of the surface behind these are in some speci-
mens longer than usual, and arranged in pairs, so as to
present the appearance of a second set of border spines.
A semicircle of seven or eight long stout spines project
from the oral angle of each triangular space, and form a
sort of cover to the mouth. The avenues widen at the
extremities so as to expose the eyes, and thus give a
notched appearance to the angles. The colour is generally
greenish yellow, sometimes tinged with red, and sometimes
brownish. The largest specimen with which I am ac-
quainted is one in Mr. Ball’s collection, measuring one inch
and five lines across.

The Gibbous Starlet is widely distributed on our coasts,
though apparently confined to the western and southern
shores of Britain. It was noticed as a British species at
a very early period. Petiver figures it as “ Luid’s small
Donegal Sea-star.” Link also figures it as British from
Luid. In England it is found in Cornwall by Mr. Couch,
where it was also observed by Borlase. In the Isle of
Man I find it in pools among the limestone rocks at
Castletown when the tide goes out ; and Dr. Coldstream
found many specimens in the same locality. I have taken
it in similar situations though not on the same sort of rock,
in Herm, one of the Channel Islands. In Scotland I have
found it on the gneiss shores of Ross-shire. In Ireland,

GIBBOUS STARLET,

121

Mr. W. Thompson says it is found all around the coast
in pools among the rocks at low water ; such would appear
to be its locality everywhere. I have never heard of a
specimen being taken by the dredge. The differences in
the rise and fall of tides, which so materially affect the
localities of other species, do not appear to change its
habitation. This species extends its range to the Medi-
terranean, where it is common, and probably occurs on all
the shores of Europe. Blainville has separated it into two
species, Asterias minuta and Asterias 'pulchella , and figures
the last in the Fauna Frangaise ; but I cannot find good
specific distinction between them, and (after having ex-
amined specimens of each) regard them as specifically
identical. A nearly allied form is found on the west coast
of South America.

The vignette is a view of Belfast Bay, from a sketch by
my friend Mr. Thompson, whose observations have made
it a classical locality to the zoologist.

122

GONIA STERILE.

ASTER1ADJE.

G ON I A S TERIJE.

Genus Goniaster. Agassiz.

Generic Character . — Body pentagonal, gibbous, thick, bordered by a series of
laminae edged with spines ; avenues bordered by transverse rows of spines ;
suckers biserial.

TEMPLETON’S CUSHION-STAR.

Goniaster Templet oni. Thompson.

Specific Character. — Body above and below smooth ; tessellae of the triangular
spaces mostly quadrangular.

Goniaster Templetoni , Forbes, Wem. Mem. VIII. p. 118, pi. iv. fig. 1, 2.

The Goniaster s bear much analogy to certain Sea-
Urchins. They may be regarded as connecting the true
Asteriadee with the Ecliinida. This connection is seen
in the general form of all the species, and in the structure
of the spines in such as are spiniferous. The capital of
the genus appears to be situated in the eastern seas. In
our own seas we have two species belonging to two differ-
ent sections ; such of the Cushion-stars as have naked bodies,
and such as are covered with spines. The pentangular

Templeton's cushion-star.

123

form and gibbous body is characteristic of all the true
Goniasters ; and the border of marginal plates distinguishes
them from Asterina and connects them with Aster las.

The Goniaster Templetoni has the body very convex,
smooth, and lubricous when fresh, though when dried it
becomes granularly reticulated. Though there are no
spines there are here and there little pointed forceps-
shaped spinules, the remains of pedicellarise, which, when
the animal is alive, give a villous appearance to the sur-
face. These organs are seen on the skin of most of the
Starfishes. In the next species they are larger than in
any other British Sea-star. There are sometimes a few
true spines seen towards the apices of the rays or angles
of this Cushion-star ; but these are by no means constant.
The margins of the body above are bordered by rows of
oblong plates, which bear at their outer edges fasciculi of
from two to four conical spines. The madreporiform
tubercle is small, finely striate in a radiating manner, and
placed about half way between the centre and the margin,
with which it appears to communicate by a furrow or
canal. Besides the madreporiform tubercle, in one speci-
men which I possess, there is on the disk, in the very
centre, a circle of short, thick, sub-globose spines. Be-
neath, the triangular spaces are smooth and tessellated by
oblong plates, which are mostly quadrangular. The mar-
gins of the avenues are bordered by transverse rows of
long pointed spines, two or three spines in each row.
Two spines shorter than the rest, and placed close together,
project over the mouth from the oral angle of each trian-
gular space. The eyes are placed beneath, near the ex-
tremities of the tentacular avenues, and do not seem to be
protected by spines. The colour of this species is very
beautiful ; bright scarlet above, sometimes with cloudy

124

G0NIASTERIJ2.

whitish markings, and straw colour beneath. The largest
specimen I have taken measured three inches and a half
across ; generally they are little more than half that size.

This species was named by my friend, Mr. W. Thomp-
son, after the late Mr. Templeton, so well known for his
researches in the natural history of Ireland. It is the
species recorded as Irish by Mr. Templeton under the
name of “ Asterias equestris in his papers on the Ra-
diate Animals of Ireland, in the ninth volume of the
Magazine of Natural History. The specimen there men-
tioned was “ found by James Grimshaw, Esq. in Belfast
Loch;” it was thrown ashore after a storm. Mr. Gray
showed me specimens in the British Museum obtained by
Dr. Leach in Plymouth Sound. As long ago as 1819, Mr.
Ball obtained several specimens from the Nymph Bank, off
Waterford. They were brought up on long lines. Dr.
Coldstream found it some years ago in Bute. Mr. Smith,
of Jordan Hill, has taken it by dredging near the same
island, and also in Lamlash Bay, in the island of Arran.
Mr. Philip Maclagan found it on the coast of Ayrshire,
and Dr. Pollexfen on the shores of Orkney. I have
dredged it frequently on the north-western coast of the
Isle of Man, where it lives among scallops in deep water.
I do not think it has been observed on the eastern coast
as yet. The Asterias pul villus of Muller, Zoologia Danica,
tab. xci. nearly resembles this Cushion-star. The attitude
there drawn is frequently presented by our animal when
alive. The form of the tessellse on the under surface is,
however, so different that I dare not venture to consider
the species identical with ours, especially as the tessellse are
of specific importance in this genus. Professor Agassiz
informs me that Dr. Fleming’s specimen of his Asterias
irregularis is this species.

KNOTTY CUSHION-STAR.

125

ASTERIA DM.

GONIASTERVE.

KNOTTY CUSHION-STAR.

Goniaster equestris. Ganelin.

Specific Character. — Body above and below covered with mammiform tuber-
cular spines.

Asterias equestris , Gmel. 3164 ? Sowerby’s Brit. Misc. No. 2, p. 8,

pi. lxiii. Lam. vol. II. p. 555 ; 2 Edit.vol. III. p. 242 ?
Encyc. Meth. pis. ci. cii. Flem. Brit. An. p. 485.
Jameson, Wern. Mem. I. p. 559.

Pentaceros planus, Link, p. 21, t. xii. f. 21 ; t. xxxiii. f. 53.

Ag. Prod.

, Johnston, Mag. Nat. Hist. v. IV. p. 146, f. 21.
Lam. An. sans Vert. 2 Edit. vol. III. p. 257.

Goniaster equestris ,
Var. Asterias Jonstoni ,

126

G0NIASTER1J3.

This Cushion-star is one of the rarest and most beau-
tiful of our native Starfishes. It was first figured as British
by Mr. Sowerby in the British Miscellany, from a specimen
“found by James Brodie, Esq. in February 1806, on the
coast near Brodie House,” in the north of Scotland. Pro-
fessor Jameson had recorded it in the Wernerian Me-
moirs, as having been found “by Mr. (now Dr.) Neill
near Newhaven in the Frith of Forth.” The figure I have
given was drawn by Mr. John Thornhill, from a specimen
obtained by a fisherman off Cullercoats, Northumberland,
now in the collection of Mr. Richard R. Wingate, the
celebrated animal preserver of Newcastle, through whose
kindness I am enabled to present the following original
description drawn up with the assistance of my distin-
guished friend, Mr. Alder.

The diameter of the Newcastle specimen, the largest
British example with which I am acquainted, is nine
inches and three-fourths. The form is sub-pentangular.
The upper surface is covered with irregularly placed mam-
miform tubercular spines, varying from the one-eighth to
the one-thirty-second of an inch in diameter, and of about
the same height. These spines are smooth, and are placed
in the centres of nearly circular plates, each of which is
surrounded by a border of minute tubercles. The inter-
mediate spaces are granulated by similar tubercles, among
which are scattered furrowed forceps-like spinules, which
are long and equal in shape. The madreporiform tuber-
cle is sub-central and small. The margins of the upper
surface are bordered by two rows of plates, varying in
shape, but mostly oblong, with nearly semicircular ends,
their longest sides being in juxta-position. These plates
are smooth, raised in the centre, and bear from one to
three mammiform tubercular spines. A border of small

KNOTTY CUSHION-STAR.

127

tubercles surrounds their margins. The under surface is
bordered by similar but flatter rows of spiniferous plates
with those above. These plates are pentangular. The
triangular spaces between the avenues are covered with
mammiform tubercular spines, similar to those on the
upper side, but smaller, and not placed as on the upper
surface in the centre of plates. The intermediate spaces
are interspersed with minute tubercles, which, however,
do not surround the bases of the spines in a regular manner
as they do on the upper side. Forceps-like spinules, simi-
lar to but larger than those on the upper side, are arranged
in regular transverse and longitudinal rows in each of
the triangular spaces. The margins of the avenues are
bordered by longitudinal rows of spines arranged in pairs,
and an outer series of plates, each bearing from three to
five long obtuse blunt spines, placed in transverse rows.
Each arm is terminated by a blunt and regular tubercle.
When fresh, Mr. Wingate states his specimen was of a

1

v!0a0

3

4

128

GONIASTERI.E.

pale orange colour. It is in fine preservation, although
it is now twelve years ago since it was taken. Mr.
Brodie’s specimen was bright red above ; beneath, yel-
lowish with red margins.

In the vignette on the preceding page, the two first figures
represent the tubercles and spinules of the surface and
border of the lower surface ; the third and fourth those of
the upper.

In the Magazine of Natural History for March 1836,
Dr. Johnston describes and figures a Starfish from the coast
of Caithness, under the name of Asterias Jonstoni, which
I regard as a variety of this species. Dr. J ohnston says,
44 Mr. J. E. Gray, who has examined the specimen figured,
tells me that it is quite distinct from the true Asterias
equestris ; and he has in consequence assigned to it the
specific name which is here adopted. I am, nevertheless,
convinced the species is identical with the Asterias equestris
of British authors.” The specimen is now in the British
Museum, and seems to be a four-angled form of this
Cushion-star. Such a variation of form is not uncommon
in the genus Goniaster. Dr. Johnston describes his animal
thus : 44 Body square ; sinuated between the angles, of
which two are somewhat more produced than the others,
flat, rough, with papillary warts and miliary granules, the
latter encircling the dilated smooth base of the obtuse
papillae ; these granules and warts cover the surface, but
in the centre of a ring of granules there are frequently small
apertures protected by a pair of roundish scales, which
open and shut at the will of the animal ; operculum lateral,
slightly convex, deeply grooved, the grooves branched ;
margin obtuse, thick, protected by a double series of large
square plates, studded with from two to four papillae, and
each of them surrounded with a series of granules; the

KNOTTY CUSHION-STAR.

129

ventral surface is divided into four triangular spaces by the
tentacular avenues, which are fringed on each side with
a double series of smooth, blunt, short, and slightly com-
pressed processes or spines ; the triangular spaces are very
rough with enlarged granules and valvular openings ; but
there are no dilated bases for papillae, and the valvular
apertures are arranged in rows ; in the centre of each of
the compartments there is a large irregular opening.
When fresh, the colour is a bright red or scarlet, but on
keeping, the colour fades to a faint and dirty brownish
yellow.1’

Mr. Couch records the occurrence of one specimen of this
variety on the coast of Cornwall, in his Cornish Fauna.

K

130

ASTERIA!.

Genus Asterias. Linnseus. Agassiz.

Generic Character. — Body stellate ; rays flat, with a border of marginal plates ;
avenues bordered by three sets of spines ; suckers biserial.

THE BUTTHORN.

Asterias aurantiaca. Linnseus.

Specific Character. — Disk broad ; rays lanceolate ; margin spinose.

Asterias aurantiaca (or aranciaca), Linn. Syst. Nat. 1100. Muller, Zool.

Dan. Prod. 2831 ; Zool. Dan. III. tab.
lxxxiii. Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert. vol.
II. p. 563 ; 2 Edit. vol. III. p. 251.
Fleming, Brit. An. p. 486. Johnston,
Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. IX. p. 299, f. 44.
Forbes, Wern. Mem. VIII. p. 118.

Asterias irregularis, Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p. 61, No. 57.

BUTTHOKN.

131

Astropecten , Link, t. y. vi. £ 5, 13; t, viii. £11, 12 ; tab.

iv. f. 14 ; t. xxyii. £ 44.

„ Encrc. Mcth. pi. cx. f. 1-5 ; pi. cxi. f. 1-6.

„ Bradley, W orks of Nature.

Far. ? Asterias Jonstoni , Della Chiagi, Mem. tom. II. p. 356.

Stella Marina minor , Jonston, Historia Naturalis, t. viii. £11.

The genus for which the name of Asterias has been
specially reserved is one of the most elegant of its tribe,
the shape of the species it includes being more regular than
that of any other Starfishes. There is hut one species
belonging to it a native of Britain, the Asterias aranciaca
or aurantiaca , for the name has been written indifferently
either way. It has five equal lanceolate arms, with straight
sides, which are bordered by transversely oblong plates.
The whole of the disk, and the surface of the arms within
the borders, are thickly set with tubercles, crowned by
circles or gvoups of minute spines. These are placed suffi-
ciently close together to give the surface a compact ap-
pearance. In the centre of the arms and disk they are
arranged irregularly, but on the sides there is a tendency
to a transverse linear arrangement. The centre of the disk
is prominent, and the madreporiform tubercle is small,
striate, and very lateral, being placed close to the junction
of two of the arms. The marginal plates are prominent
and rounded. Their surface is thickly studded with minute
tubercles, and their summits are often furnished with two
or three short acute conical spines. The sides of the rays
at the junction of the upper and lower surfaces are fringed
by a border of numerous long, lanceolate, flattened spines.
On the under surface, between these and the immediate
borders of the avenues, is a broad space covered by thick-
set transverse plates, each of which bears upon its summit
seven or eight diverging oblique rows of short, flattened,
clavate spines. The spines immediately bordering the

132

ASTEBIiE.

avenues are mucli longer, similar in form, and arranged in
transverse fasciculi. The mouth is guarded by a mechanism
similar to that seen in the Solasters ; oval plates at the
oral junctions of the rays, bearing four series of upright
spines on their surface, and a comb of about seven long
spines projecting over the mouth. In this species the
points of the five combs nearly meet, so as to form a very
efficient protection. Such a protection is more needed in
the Butthorn than in other Starfishes, as its body and arms
are not nearly so flexible. The extremity of each ray is
turned up, and presents a circle of blunt spines forming
the eyelid.

This species sometimes measures six inches across ;
generally from three to five. Mr. Ball says it grows to
nine at Youghal. It is extremely variable, varying in the
form of the rays, in the number of border-plates, and the
presence or absence of spines upon them, and in colour.
These variations have given rise to the creation of several
spurious species, such as the Asterias Jonstoni , and penta-
cantha of Della Chiagi, and the Asterias spinulosa , platya-
cantha and subinermis of Phillippi ; perhaps, also, the
Asterias bispinosa of Otto. There has been a fancy among
naturalists to split up the Linnsean Asterias aurantiaca ,
which has been carried much too far. Species have been
founded on the breadth of the rays, — a point in which
every specimen differs more or less from another ; and on
the number of the marginal plates, which varies according
to age and size. The spines seen sometimes on the mar-
ginal plates furnish no true characters, as specimens not
unfrequently occur in which the plates of one ray bear
spines, and those of the other are naked. The form of
the border spines also varies exceedingly, even in the same
specimen. The colour, sometimes altogether brick-red

BUTTHORN.

133

above, sometimes a light pink or yellow, with purple
tips to the rays, furnishes no better characters. I have
now before me nine specimens taken at random from
various localities. They differ much in form, size and
colour. Four of them are from the east coast of Scotland ;
their marginal plates present all variations of spinosity,
and are severally on each side of the rays, thirty-two,
twenty-five, thirty-three, and thirty-four. The largest mea-
sures five inches across, that having twenty-five plates only
three. One is from the east coast of Scotland ; it measures
above five inches, and the rays have thirty-eight spineless
plates on each of their sides. One is from Shetland; it
measures nearly three inches across, the number of plates on
each ray-margin is twenty-seven. Each plate bears one
spine. Two fresh specimens, a very little larger, present re-
spectively the numbers twenty-nine and twenty-three, and
the plates are spineless. A specimen from the Mediterranean
differs in no essential points from these. It measures three
and a half inches across ; the sides of each ray are bor-
dered by thirty plates, which bear two or three spines
each. Considering, therefore, these variations to arise
merely from age or situation, I see no ground for making
more than one species out of the Linnsean aurantiaca.

Sometimes the whole of the upper surface is covered by
an adhesive glutinous matter, but this is by no means con-
stant. This variety is common in some parts of the Frith
of Forth. The species is very generally distributed. On
some of the southern shores of England it is common. Mr.
Harvey took it abundantly at Teignmouth. Dr. J ohnston
takes it at Berwick-on-Tweed ; Mr. Bean at Scarborough.
It is generally distributed on the coasts of Scotland, and
occurs in both Orkney and Shetland. In Ayrshire it is
found by Mr. P. Maclagan. On the Manx coast it has

134

ASTEKLE.

been taken by Mr. Wallace. In Ireland, Mr. W. Thomp-
son finds it on the coast of Down and Antrim, and Mr.
Ball at Youghal, from whence he has a specimen in his
collection seven and a half inches in diameter. In several
specimens he found Natica Alderi in its stomach, and one
contained nine of that shell with a Turritella Terebra. He
takes them in deep water. In Donegal Bay it is common
on a sandy bottom. It has been taken abundantly in Ross
Bay (county Cork) by trawling, by Mr. George J. Allman
of Bandon, who finds it on all the south-west coast of
Cork. I do not think it is ever a littoral species; and
those I have dredged were always taken on sandy ground.
I have one with a small Venus cassina in its stomach.

Mr. Bean has communicated the following account of a
singular superstition in regard to this species observed by
the fishermen of his neighbourhood. “ Our fishermen call
this species a Butthorn. The first taken is carefully made
a prisoner, and placed on a seat at the stern of the boat.
When they hook a But (Holibut) they immediately give
the poor Starfish its liberty, and commit it to its native
element ; but if their fishery is unsuccessful it is left to
perish, and may eventually enrich the cabinet of some in-
dustrious collector.”

The vignette represents the “ dreg,” an instrument used
by the Shetlanders for procuring shells, &c. from deep
water.

LINGTHORN.

135

ASTERIADJE.

ASTERISK.

Genus Luidia. Forbes.

Generic Character. — Body stellate ; rays flat, covered above with spiniferous
tubercles ; avenues bordered by two sets of spines ; suckers biserial.

THE LINGTHORN.

Luidia fragillissima. Forbes.

Luidia fragillissima , Forbes, Wern. Mem. VIII. p. 123.

Asterias rubens , Johnston, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. IX. p. 144, fig. 20.

Asterias pectinata, Couch, Mag. Nat. Hist. New Series, Jan. 1840.

In my Memoir on the Asteriadse of the Irish Sea, pub-
lished in the Wernerian Memoirs for 1839, I constituted

136

ASTEKLE.

the genus Luidia for the reception of the most remarkable
and largest of all our British Starfishes. Generally dis-
tributed as this beautiful species appears to be on the
shores of Britain, it altogether escaped observation, or
rather description, until the year 1836, when Dr. Johnston
figured and described it in the Magazine of Natural His-
tory under the name of Asterias rubens , with which species,
however, it has no relation, being next door neighbour to
Asterias aranciaca on the one hand, and the Ophiura on
the other. With no native or foreign Starfish can it be
confounded.

I have dedicated the genus to the name of Edward
Llhuyd, one of the earliest observers of our native Star-
fishes, and from whom Link derived many materials for
his work. Llhuyd was born in Carmarthenshire, in the
year 1670; was a student of Jesus College, Oxford ; suc-
ceeded Dr. Plot as head keeper of the Ashmolean Museum ;
travelled for scientific purposes throughout England, Scot-
land, Ireland, and Brittany, and died in the year 1709.
He was a man of great knowledge and great talent. His
studies were extended over large tracts of science and lite-
rature, and he enlightened both with his researches and
his writings. He united a comprehensive and philosophical
mind with an observing eye, and the energy to execute.
Amid the multiplicity of his studies there was no confusion.
He wrote on insects, plants, fossils, antiquities, and lan-
guages ; on all much and well. His principal works were
“ Lythophylacii Britt anici Ichnographia,” and “ Archseo-
logia Brittaniea.” Ray praised him. Strange to say his
name is omitted in many of our cyclopedias, which devote
whole pages to men of less repute.

The Luidia fragillissima when full grown measures two
feet across, and would appear to exceed that size occa-

LINGTHORN.

137

sionally, judging from fragments. The rays are from five
to seven in number, quite flat, and generally five times as
long as the disk is broad. Commonly they taper very
gradually; hut in some of the specimens from the east
coast they are broadest towards the middle, as represented
in Dr. Johnston’s figure. The upper surface of both rays
and disk is covered with tubercles, each bearing a radiat-
ing circle of from six to eight sub-clavate papillose spines,
generally with from one to three short clavate spines in
the centre. These tubercles are very closely set, so as to
give the surface when not looked at near a very compact
appearance. Dr. Johnston says the circle of spines crown-
ing the tubercles can be expanded or closed at the will of
the animal. Towards the sides of the rays the tubercles
are arranged in regular transverse rows. The margins of
the rays are bordered by long rounded spines, which are
arranged in rows of four or five placed on regular trans-
verse ridges ; the uppermost spines are thickest. The
spines forming the immediate borders of the avenues are
long, slender, and angular, and are also placed on trans-
verse ridges. The madreporiform tubercle is extremely
lateral, almost marginal, and reticularly striate. The
suckers are placed in two rows in each avenue, and are
very long and cylindrical, not inflated as in the last genus.
The eyes are placed in the centre of a circle of spines at
the extremities of the rays. The colour is brick-red above,
varying in intensity ; the under surface and lateral spines
are straw coloured.

This species varies in the number and proportion of its
arms. They are always either five or seven : I know of
no specimen as yet found having six arms. Those found
on the east coast have generally smaller tubercles on the
less tapering rays than the specimens from the west or

138

ASTERISK.

north. This equally applies to five and seven rayed ex-
amples. At one time I fancied the five-rayed Luidia was
a distinct species, conceiving that in a genus approaching
the Ophiura: we should probably find a greater specific
constancy in the number of rays than in the other Asteri-
ad<z , such constancy being a family character among the
Ophiurse, and a generic character in the preceding genus
Asterias. But as accompanying definitive characters are
absent, I prefer regarding the five-rayed specimens as
variations of the ordinary or seven-rayed form. It is the
wonderful power which the Luidia possesses, not merely
of casting away its arms entire, but of breaking them vo-
luntarily into little pieces with great rapidity, which ap-
proximates it to the Ophiurse. This faculty renders the
preservation of a perfect specimen a very difficult matter.
The first time I ever took one of these creatures I suc-
ceeded in getting it into the boat entire. Never having
seen one before, and quite unconscious of its suicidal
powers, I spread it out on a rowing bench, the better to
admire its form and colours. On attempting to remove
it for preservation, to my horror and disappointment I
found only an assemblage of rejected members. My con-
servative endeavours were all neutralised by its destructive
exertions, and it is now badly represented in my cabinet
by an armless disk and a diskless arm. Next time I went
to dredge on the same spot, determined not to be cheated
out of a specimen in such a way a second time, I brought
with me a bucket of cold fresh water, to which article
Starfishes have a great antipathy. As I expected, a Luidia
came up in the dredge, a most gorgeous specimen. As it
does not generally break up before it is raised above the
surface of the sea, cautiously and anxiously I sunk my
bucket to a level with the dredge’s mouth, and proceeded

LINGTHORN.

139

in the most gentle manner to introduce Luidia to the
purer element. Whether the cold air was too much for
him, or the sight of the bucket too terrific, I know not,
hut in a moment he proceeded to dissolve his corporation,
and at every mesh of the dredge his fragments were seen
escaping. In despair I grasped at the largest, and brought
up the extremity of an arm with its terminating eye, the
spinous eyelid of which opened and closed with something
exceedingly like a wink of derision. Young specimens are
by no means so fragile as those full grown ; and the five-
armed variety seems less brittle than that with seven arms.
Like other Starfishes, it has the power of reproducing its
arms.

The first recorded specimens of this Starfish are those
mentioned by Dr. Johnston as having been taken in Ber-
wick Bay. In a large specimen from that locality the
dimensions were “ diameter of the disk two inches ; length
of each ray nine inches, and its greatest breadth one and
a half inches."” He found both the varieties. Mr. Goodsir
and I dredged a small five-rayed specimen in about fif-
teen fathoms water off Stromness, Orkney. Mr. W. C.
Trevelyan finds it in Arran ; and Dr. Fleming has
found it on the Northern shores. Dr. Coldstream has
also taken it on the Scottish coast. On the English
coast Mr. Bean has taken both varieties at Scarborough.
The five-armed form is there called Lingthorn by the
fishermen, and is taken in deep water, but is very rare.
Mr. Bean has taken only one specimen of the seven-armed
form, which occurred to him in very deep water. This
specimen measures eighteen inches across. Under the
name of Asterias Pectinata , Mr. Couch notices this species
from the Cornish coast in the Magazine of Natural History
for January 1840. His specimen also measured eighteen

140

ASTERIiE.

inches ; the disk two and three quarters, and the breadth
of the ray, where widest, one and three-tenths of an inch.
He found a purple Spatangus crushed together in its
stomach. In Ireland it has hitherto been taken only on
the south-western coasts, where it was observed many
years ago by Mr. Ball. He states it is common about
Youghal. All his specimens have seven arms, and he has
found Natica Alderi in their stomachs. On the coast of
the Isle of Man I have taken it several times, always with
seven arms. I found it in twenty fathoms water on the
Scallop Bank, about four miles from the north-western
shore. Mr. Wallace has a young five-armed specimen in
his collection, probably from the Irish Sea. The species,
as far as known, seems peculiar to Britain. The genus
extends its range to the Bed Sea.

My friend, Mr. Gr. J. Bell, has favoured me with the
sketch I here give of Scarborough, the scene of the re-
searches of Mr. Bean.

141

THE SEA-URCHINS.

ECHINIME,

OR CIRRHO-SPINIGRADE ECHINODERMATA.

Of equal importance to zoologist and geologist is the
study of the Sea-Urchins : to the former they present the
perfection of radiism, as well as the first steps towards a
symmetrical or bilateral form ; to the latter the know-
ledge of their habits and organization is necessary in order
to understand the relations and associations of the numerous
species which abound in many of the earth’s strata. Of
all the Radiata they are most perfectly preserved in a fossil
state. Their hard calcareous integument, or shell, as it is
popularly but inaccurately termed, the parts of which are

142

ECHINIDvE.

jointed together with wondrous completeness, is especially
durable ; consequently we find the hard parts of the ex-
tinct species frequently as perfect as those of the recent
examples preserved in our cabinets.

The Sea-Urchins are distinguished from all the other
Echinoderms by their form, which is more or less rounded,
without arms of any kind, and by their integument, in
which calcareous matter is deposited so as to form series
of regular plates, which plates are studded with tubercles,
hearing jointed on them spines of various forms and sizes
according to the genus or family. Ambulacra, variously
arranged, perforated with pores for the exsertion of suckers
or feet similar to those of the true Starfishes, are seen on
the surface of this hard integument. On the apex the
ovarian holes are seen, and there are two openings to the
digestive canal, a mouth always below, and sometimes
armed with an internal dental apparatus, and a vent which
is very variable in its position. The intestine is winding,
and is attached to the inner surface of the shell by a
mesentery, the surface of which, as well as of the mem-
brane lining the shell, is covered with vibratile cilia, and
serves doubtless for respiratory purposes. There are
ovaries, in number four or five, forming large masses placed
in the spaces between the ambulacra. There is a more or
less complicated vascular system, having a portion with
muscular parietes, and exhibiting pulsations, therefore
regarded as a heart, and other branches considered to per-
form the offices of arteries and veins. M. Van Beneden
has asserted that a nervous system exists in the Urchins
similar to that described by Tiedemann as existing in
Holothuria , hut no one has as yet confirmed the observation.
It is probable, however, that if what is regarded as a
nervous system in the Starfishes and Holothuria be really

ECHINIDiE.

143

of such an important nature, a similar organization should
exist in the Echinida.

The Echinida progress by means of the joint action of
their suckers and spines, using the former in the manner of
the Asteriadte , and the latter as the Ophiurida do. Many
Sea-Urchins, such as live on hard surfaces, moor them-
selves also by means of the suckers, and thus adhere very
firmly to the rocks. That such is the mode of progression
and rest among this family I assert, not only from the
general belief of naturalists, but also from personal ob-
servation. It is necessary to do so in consequence of the
following statement of Professor Agassiz, which I quote
from the translation of his Prodromus, in the Annals of
Natural History. “ As to the membranous tubes issuing
from the holes of the ambulacra, it is proper to remark that
they do not in any way contribute to locomotion. It is
rather amusing to trace the history of their advancement
to the honours of this function. As they are placed in the
Echini in bands more or less narrow between the large
mamellated plates which bear the spines, the old natural-
ists, fancying that they bore some resemblance to the
alleys or walks in a park, gave them the name of ambu-
lacra, without describing with greater precision their
nature and destined use. More recently the idea attached
to the word ambulacra was extended to the organ which
is placed amongst them, and has been since then most
erroneously considered as a locomotive organ. How in
fact could these small tentacula, situated as they generally
are in that part of the body which is never brought into
contact with the ground when the animal moves, and
overhung by calcareous solid spines, — how, I ask, could
these flexible tubes he used as organs of motion ? It is
an undeniable fact, and I have often observed it myself,

144

ECHINIDJ3.

that it is with their spines the Echini move themselves,
seize their prey, and bring it to their mouths, by turning
the rays of their lower edge in different directions. But
the correction of an error respecting the functions of the
ambulacral tubes does not solve the problem relating to their
nature and use. This problem we are yet unable to solve,
as we know nothing more respecting them than that they
are connected with the aquiferous system.”

There can be little doubt that in all the E chino derms
provided with these suckers, they serve not merely for
progression ; the lower we descend in the scale of animal
nature (and equally in the vegetable kingdom), the more
functions do we find performed by one organ. But observe
a living Starfish, or a living Holothuria, and see what
effective organs of progression these soft, flexible, weak-
looking tubes are. I have seen an Echinus miliaris, a
Spatangus purpureus, and an Amphidotus roseus all walk
along the bottom and up the sides of a dish of salt water
by means of their inferior tentacula; and the first men-
tioned anchored itself by extending and bending its superior
suckers, so as to reach the bottom of the dish. In the
Sea-Urchins they are of a similar structure, and the ar-
gument against their being organs of motion, founded on
their position above as well as below, would equally apply
to the spines, to which organs the distinguished naturalist
of Switzerland has attributed all progressive powers in
these animals.

The Sea-Urchins, as far as we know, are free throughout
their existence. In some of the genera we find a madre-
poriform tubercle or nucleus resembling that of the As-
teriadse, but there is no internal column attached. This
nucleus is very large in the embryo Urchin, and is placed
on one of the ovarian plates, all of which form a large

ECHINID.E.

145

portion of the animal’s body when it is very young, the
number of the other plates of the integument increasing
with age, and enlarging by means of a deposition of poly-
gonal calcareous particles at their edges.

The Echinidse have been investigated by several very
distinguished naturalists, with a view to their classification,
especially M. de Blainville, Mr. Gray, M. Desmoulins, and
Professor Agassiz. While in most of the tribes of the
Echinodermata , the constituted genera, till lately, partook
rather of the character of families, in this order there has
been a tendency to an extreme multiplication of genera.

The British species of Sea-Urchins belong to three fami-
lies, — 1 . The Cidaeites, including Echinus and Cidaris.
The animals of this family have the mouth central and
inferior, the anus central and superior. The five ambulacra
form continuous rows from the apex to the mouth ; the
ovaries are five, and the mouth is furnished with a com-
plicated dental apparatus. The spines of these Sea-Urchins
vary in almost every species, and furnish good specific
characters ; but in the other families their form and sculp-
ture is generic, or rather characteristic of the whole group.

2. The Clypeasteri^e, which have both mouth and anus
below, the former central, and usually armed with teeth.
Their ambulacra are not continuous, and there are five
ovaries. To this family belong Echinocyamus and Echino-
rachnius.

3. The Spatangace^:. These have the mouth eccentric
and inferior, and the anus terminal. There are no teeth ;
the ambulacra are not continuous, and the ovaries are four
in number. To this family belong the genera Spatangus ,
Brissus , and Amphidotus.

146

CIDABITES.

ECHINIDJE.

Cl DA RITES.

Genus Gidaris. Leske.

Generic Character. — Body globose ; anus and mouth nearly equal. Ambulacra
continuous from mouth to anus, which are both central, the former below, the
latter above ; spiniferous tubercles perforate ; spines of several fonns.

THE PIPER.

Cidaris papillata. Leske. Fleming.

Specific Character. — One tubercle on each inter-ambulacral plate, none on the
ambulacral ; spines long, cylindrical, regularly ridged with distant crenated ridges.

Cidaris papillata, Fleming, Brit. An. p. 477. Encyc. Meth. t. cxxxvi.

f. 6, 7.

Echinus Cidaris ? var. a. Sowerby, Brit. Misc. tab. xliv.

This, the most elegant of all our native Sea-Urchins, is
by far the rarest, being confined to the Zetland seas. It
measures about one inch and three quarters across, and is
of a depressed globose form. The anal opening of the shell
is as wide as the oral, and the latter is furnished internally
with five erect plates, which are divided in the centre
nearly to their bases, so as to give the appearance of ten
plates. These serve for the attachment of the muscles of

PIPER.

147

the dental apparatus, which resembles that of the Echinus.
The surface is covered with spines, which are of two sorts ;
the one kind few in number, and very long, measuring an
inch and a half in length, sometimes more. These are
slightly of a clavate form, and furrowed with about ten
deep striae, which are as broad as the intervening crenated
ridges. The prominences round their bases are finely
striated, and not furrowed by the striae of the rest of the
spine. The spines of the second sort are very short, flat-
tened, and finely striate. When the spines are rubbed
away, we then see the wide inter-ambulacral spaces, each
bearing about ten large tubercles, placed in the centre of
wide, smooth, circular depressions, which are bordered by
a frame of small tubercles, and separated from each other
by transversely striated spaces. The large tubercles some-
what resemble the Urchin itself in form, and are smooth
and polished, with a depression or perforation in their
centres, which, however, does not run through the sub-
stance. This character is common to the genera Cidaris
and Diadema. The inter-ambulacral spaces are extremely
narrow, and equal in breadth throughout ; they bear four
longitudinal rows of minute tubercles or granules, and are
waved in consequence of the undulations of the avenues,
each of which is composed of a longitudinal row of pores
arranged in pairs. A furrow connects the pores of each
pair. All the long spines are placed on the large inter-
ambulacral tubercles, one of which is seen on each inter-
ambulacral plate. The depression on the summit of the
tubercle is for the reception of the ligament of the spine.
All the smaller spines are placed on the granules forming
radiated borders round the tubercles, the avenues, the
anus, and the mouth.

This beautiful Urchin was first recorded as British, and

148

CIDARITES.

figured in Sowerby’s Naturalist’s Miscellany, to which work
it was communicated by Alexander M‘Leay, Esq. who dis-
covered it in Zetland. It is there stated that the fishermen
fancy it is sometimes seen with spines a foot long. The
Zetlanders call it Piper, comparing the spines to the drones
of a bagpipe. My friend, Mr. Thomas Edmonstone, tells
me it is also called King’ of the Sea-Eggs, and that it is
found in the “ furthest haaf,” the term applied to the deep
sea fishing in deep water. It probably inhabits rocky
ground, as it is never found but in company with Tusk
( Gadus brosmus ), which is caught on very rocky ground.
“ Two or three intelligent seamen whom I have spoken to
on the subject,” says Mr. Edmonstone, “ say they generally
draw up several entangled among their hooks every sea-
son.”

COMMON EGG-URCHIN.

149

ECHINID2E.

CIDARITES.

Genus Echinus. Linnaeus.

Generic Character. — Body globose; ambulacra continuous from mouth to
anus, which are both central, the former below, the latter above; spiniferous
tubercles imperforate ; spines of one form.

THE COMMON EGG-URCHIN.

SEA-EGG. SCa'aD MAn’s HEAD.

Echinus sphara. Muller.

Specific Character. — Rows of pores obliquely parallel, three pairs of pores in
each row; spines thick, conic, longitudinally striate; striae broader than the
ridges, and transversely striated ; primaries scarcely longer than secondaries.

Echinus marinus , Lister, An. Ang. p. 169, t. iii. f. 18. Borlase, Corn. p.

278, t. xxviii. fig. 27.

Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2845. Gmelin, 3169.

Echinus sphcera ,

150

CIDARITES.

Echinus esculentus , Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p. 67, No. 74, t. xxxiv. f. 74.

Fleming, Brit. An. p. 478.

Echinus globiformis , Lam. 1 Edit. II. p. 44 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 360.

That the common Sea-Urchin of our shores is the
Echinus sphecra of Muller I have no doubt ; and that it is
not the Echinus esculentus of the Mediterranean I am
equally certain, having compared a specimen of the latter,
kindly sent me by Mr. Ball, with our own species. Blain-
ville’s figure of the true esculentus is good, and will enable
the naturalist to distinguish that animal should it occur
on our shores. It differs from all our native species in
having four pairs of pores in each row, and the ridges on
the spines crenated. It is probable the Echinus melo of
Continental authors is identical with the Sphara, hut
Muller’s name has the priority and must be retained.

The common Egg-Urchin varies much in form. It is
sometimes almost globose, sometimes much depressed ; and
the extreme variations which it presents have led many
zoologists to suppose that several species were included
under one name. The essential characters of the species
are, however, constant in all. The variation is merely of
proportion. It seems to be arbitrary, and not depending
on locality, as the following comparison of the sizes of
specimens selected at random from various localities will
show.

Specimen from the Isle of Man,

Circumference

12 inches.

Height

3^ inches.

99

99

Frith of Forth,

15

3

99

99

Frith of Forth,

11

03

“4

99

99

Frith of Tay,

9

2

99

99

Belfast,

n

2^

99

99

Y oughal,

10

2*

99

99

Y oughal,

14*

3f

99

99

Y oughal,

12

n

The essential specific characters depend on the arrange-
ment of the tubercles which bear the spines, on the spines

COMMON EGG-URCHIN.

151

themselves, and on the number and arrangement of the
pairs of pores in the avenues of suckers. These present
good marks of distinction throughout the genus Echinus .
The spines are especially important, as from the examin-
ation of a single spine it is possible to pronounce on the
species to which it belongs. To the geologist this is evi-
dently of great consequence, as frequently he meets only
with a few scattered spines. But when we leave the fa-
mily Echinidse, we leave this important character behind
us. Among the Heart-Urchins the spines present one
common family structure. A single plate, either ambu-
lacral or inter-ambulacral, will also, from the arrangement
of the spiniferous tubercles which cover its surface, enable
us to pronounce pretty certainly on the animal of which it
formed a part. Thus, in this family of Echinodermata,
from an apparently insignificant fragment we can construct,
as it were, a species, even as the student of the V ertebrata,
from a broken bone can pronounce on the form and habits
of the animal to which it belonged.

The apex of the Egg-Urchin presents the anal opening
surrounded by five triangular, or somewhat cordate plates,
called the ovarian plates. They are so termed since we
find in each of them a perforation, which is the opening
of the ovaries, and through which the eggs are excluded.
One of these plates is somewhat larger than the rest, and
much rougher on the surface, being occupied, as it were,
by a large porous wart. This body is of the same nature
with the madreporiform tubercle of the Starfish. It is the
nucleus of the Sea-Urchin,— we might almost say the
navel. The ovarian plates are strengthened internally by
a strong transverse rib. Their apices are directed from
the anus, and they are separated from each other by five
smaller cordate plates with apices directed towards the

152

CIDARITES.

anus ; each of these has a little triangular depression, and
a perforation at its lower part. When the animal is alive
these perforations are seen to be filled up by a red mem-
brane, or substance ; and I regard them as analogous to
the so-called eye of the Starfish. They are placed exactly
in the corresponding position, — namely, at the extremities
of the avenues of suckers, each pair of avenues meeting in
fact at these little plates. There are five pairs of avenues ;
they run from mouth to anus. The plates which separate
the two avenues of each pair are called ambulacral ; and
those which separate the pairs, forming a space of double
the width or more, are called inter-ambulacral. Both am-
bulacral and inter-ambulacral plates are studded with
mamillary spiniferous tubercles. On each ambulacral plate
there is usually one large tubercle and three or four small
ones ; on each inter-ambulacral plate there are from five
to seven large tubercles and several small ones. The spines
which crown these tubercles are all of one form, though
of various dimensions as regards thickness. They are all
finely striated longitudinally, and have the ridges narrower
than the furrows, which latter are finely striated across.
There is generally one small tubercle separating the trans-
verse rows of pairs, which are oblique, three pairs in each
row, the rows running parallel to each other. Small
ridges and furrows also separate the pairs of pores from
each other. The avenues are broadest towards the middle
of the animal, smallest towards the mouth and the apex.
Through the pores protrude the suckers, which are long,
cylindric, and provided with a circular disk at their extremi-
ties. The number of these suckers is very great. In a moder-
ate-sized U rchin I reckoned sixty-two rows of pores in each
of the ten avenues. Now, as there are three pairs of pores
in each row, their number multiplied by six, and again by

COMMON EGG-URCHIN.

153

ten, would give the great number of 3720 pores ; but as
each sucker occupies a pair of pores, the number of suckers
would be half that amount, or 1860. The structure in
the Egg-Urchin is not less complicated in other parts.
There are above 300 plates of one kind, and nearly as
many of another, all dove-tailing together with the greatest
nicety and regularity, bearing on their surfaces above 4000
spines, each spine perfect in itself, and of a complicated
structure, and having a free movement on its socket.
Truly the skill of the Great Architect of Nature is not less
displayed in the construction of a Sea-Urchin than in the
building up of a world !

The whole of the external surface when the animal is
alive is invested with a fine membrane, as also the spines,
the joints of which have their flexibility greatly increased
by a thick fleshy envelope. It has been stated by Pro-
fessor Ehrenberg that the membrane of these spines is
clothed with vibratile cilia ; but such cilia I have never
been able to see, nor are any currents produced in the
water around the spines which would lead us to suspect
their presence. Arguing from analogy there should be no
such cilia. The mouth of the Urchin is placed in the
middle of a wide circular web of muscular skin which occu-
pies the concave and central part of the base. This skin
is studded with scattered calcareous tubercles. It is very
muscular. In the centre is seen the oral opening, and the
points of the five teeth projecting from it. There are ten
small fleshy tubercles placed on the margin, and at some
distance from it are seen ten tubular tentacula also placed
in pairs. On the oral margin of the shell, and between
the origins of the suctorial avenues, are seen ten brown
plumose appendages, somewhat resembling the tentacula
of Holothuria, of which I regard them as the analogues,

154

CIDARITES.

though by some they are considered as respiratory tubes.
Neither they nor the tubular tentacula are ciliated. There
is usually an irregular circle of slender spines developed on
the oral membrane near the mouth ; they do not differ in
structure from those on the surface of the body-plates.

The five polished pointed teeth which project from the
mouth form part of a remarkable dental apparatus, known
by the fanciful appellation of Aristotle’s lantern. The
lantern consists of five long three-sided triangular sockets
or jaws united together, with their apices pointing down-
wards, so as to form a sort of pyramid. Each of these
jaws is broadly keeled on its outer side, and bordered by
raised margins ; towards the upper and broader part,
which forms part of the base of the pyramid, the keel
bifurcates and the space between the bifurcations is tri-
angular and perforate, being filled up with membrane in-
stead of bony matter. The shape of the keel and of the
perforation varies in different species. In the Echinus lim-
dus the keel is grooved, and the apex of the perforate space
broad, obtuse, and bidentate. In Echinus miliar is the base
of the triangular perforation is much more acutely angular
than in Echinus Sahara, and the keel broader in proportion.
The other two or inner sides of each jaw are quite flat and
finely striated across, their edges being pectinated like a
comb. Each of these jaws is separated from the others
above and in a manner united with them, as well by five
oblong horizontal plates, with their outer ends bent down-
wards and widened, so as greatly to strengthen the ap-
paratus. The margins of these plates are not straight but
somewhat fiddle-shaped. From the inner ends of these
oblong plates, and springing seemingly from the centre of
the lantern immediately around the gullet, rise five long
slender processes bent outwards, and having mace-shaped

COMMON EGG-URCHIN.

155

flattened heads, giving them the appearance of so many
golf-clubs. To all these plates a complicated machinery of
muscles and ligaments is attached. The teeth themselves
are very long and slender, soft, and bent inwards at their
upper parts, hard and enamelled towards their points.
Their outer surface is prismatic, and grooved in the centre ;
their inner fluted, hut having a strong, very prominent,
compressed rib or keel running down to near the triangular
point. Dr. Sharpey remarks on them that they “ are very
hard at the point, but softer towards the roots, where they
are easily separated into transverse scales or plates, with
a fine silky or asbestine lustre ; they seem to grow con-
tinually at the root, and wear at the point as in the Ro-
dentia.” Round the inner margin of the mouth of the
shell are five large oblique plates of a quadrangular form
with a wide oval aperture in the centre. These serve for
the attachment of the muscles which connect the lantern
with the shell, and through their perforations pass the aqui-
ferous vessels of the avenues.

Scattered over the surface of the body and around the
mouth are great numbers of Pedicellaria , bodies of the
same form and similar structure with those described under
the account of the Starfishes of the genus Ur aster. These
were first observed on the species before us by Muller, who
described and figured three kinds in the Zoologia Danica.
They have since been investigated carefully by Sars ; and,
as his account, being published in the Norwegian language,
is inaccessible to most English readers, I shall make no
apology for giving a full abstract of his observations, and
then offer my own comments. Muller conceived them to
be parasitic animals, Lamarck followed him, and Cuvier
also, with a doubt, as also Schweigger. Munro, Oken,
and Sharpey regard them as organs of the animal.

156

CIDARITES.

M. Sars states, “ In examining Echinus sphsera, I found
upon it all the three sorts of Pedicellaria described by
Muller, viz. P. tridens , P. triphylla , and P. globifera.
Besides what Muller states in regard to P. tridens, I will
make the following remarks : — Internally there is a hard
stem, which is enclosed by a strong transparent skin, like
a sheath. It is thickest at the upper and lower ends, and
reaches from the neck, as it is called, to the base, where
it remarkably enough is fixed and jointed to an exceeding-
ly small barb projecting from the Sea-Urchin’s shell.
This circumstance, which is invariable in the Pedicellaria ,
seems not to have been sufficiently attended to. The
three teeth are concave on the side turned inwards,
angular and furnished with small teeth on their edges.
They are hard and calcareous ; when viewed through a
microscope they are seen connected with very small glo-
bules arranged in rows. The stem is also calcareous, yet
it can be slightly bent without breaking. The neck is
nearly as thick again as the stem, it is fleshy, transparent,
and very flexible. The motions observed in the Pedicel-
laria, when irritated, are, that the teeth close and squeeze
pretty firmly ; in this way by inserting the point of a pin
between them, after the Pedicellaria was torn off, I could
draw it out of the water ; further, that the neck bends and
inclines to all sides, and can even contract a little, in doing
which transverse wrinkles are formed on it ; and lastly
that the stem itself inflexible may bend along with the
whole Pedicellaria to the side. The form called Pedicel-
laria globifera by Muller, has a head consisting of three
outspread flaps, standing nearly horizontally. Each of
these flaps is oval, very convex externally, and concave
internally, and at the upper end slightly indented and
provided with a sharp point somewhat bent. From the

COMMON EGG-URCHIN.

157

indentation runs a raised stripe or rib longitudinally down-
wards through the flap. On the inner side of these flaps
at their base is seen an oval and apparently calcareous leaf.
The stem, which is similarly constituted with that of the
P. tridens , proceeds directly from the head (there is no
neck in this species), is small above, and thicker below,
until at the bottom it completely fills the hollow of the
sheath which encompasses it. With regard to the motions
of these Pedicellarite , they not only quickly open and shut
the three flaps, but can also turn the head to the different
sides, and up and down, and that very quickly.

44 Muller says, regarding P. tridens , 4 Variat absque
aristis, an perditisU Of such I have also found a large
number of specimens ; but I scarcely believe that they
belong to the P. tridens, since the teeth of these last are
fixed so firmly that they could scarcely fall off. Either
they are a separate species, or a variety of the P. triphylla,
which they resemble in every point except that the three
flaps are broad at the bottom and small at the ends.
These flaps seemed there also to be calcareous, and con-
sisted of many small globules, which were arranged in
transverse rows, clearly separated from each other by a
light transparent line. Such a line also ran longitudinally
down the flap. In P. triphylla the flaps are not obtuse,
but a little rounded, and have, like the foregoing, globules
extending in rows.

44 If we now consider the construction of the Pedicel-
larise, and their manner of life as a whole, we can scarcely
believe them to be anything but organs of the Sea-Urchin.
The following reasons seem to prove the accuracy of this
opinion.

44 1st. In all Sea-Urchins without exception are found
Pedicellarise, and under the same circumstances, which

158

CIDARITES.

would certainly not always be the case if they were para-
sitical animals. Just as Lernsese are not always found in
all fishes, &c.

“ 2nd. The hard calcareous teeth or plates, and the in-
ternal stem also calcareous, and often filling up alone the
sheath, which are found in all Pedicellarise, bear a greater
resemblance to an Echinus spine than to any animal of the
Polype kind. There is neither opening, nor mouth, fila-
ments, &c.

“ 3rd. The Pedicellaria are firmly fixed in the skin
which envelopes the whole Sea-Urchin, upon a very small
projecting knob of the shell, to which knob they are
very strongly attached, but yet movable, like the prickles
of the Sea-Urchin ; the under surface of the stem of a
Pedicellaria being somewhat hollowed and articulated with
the knob. When a Pedicellaria is torn out, it is observed
that the sheath or skin connecting the stem is torn at the
lower end, which, doubtless, is a consequence of its connec-
tion with the skin, with which the shell of the Sea-Urchin
is covered, and which, when the Pedicellaria is torn out,
must be rent.

“ 4th. When the skin of the Sea-Urchin, or a single
Pedicellaria is irritated — for example, with a pin — the sur-
rounding Pedicellarise, which stand in a wide circle, in-
variably bend themselves quickly towards the irritated
part. This phenomenon, which I have often observed,
shows clearly an organic connection between the Pedicel-
laria and the skin of the shell of the Sea-Urchin. The
same thing precisely is observed with the spines.”

On the purpose of these organs M. Sars remarks, “ Per-
haps Nature, who has so abundantly provided the Sea-
Urchin with such an astonishing number of feet and
prickles, has also given the Pedicellarise as a sort of an-

COMMON EGG-URCHIN.

159

tennse, partly to seize the small animals which serve for its
sustenance, partly to lay hold of whatever might approach
their sensitive skin which covers the surface of the shell,
and thus in conjunction with the prickles protect it from
injury.” He says that some which he had cut off moved
six hours afterwards with considerable liveliness.

The description of the structure of these bodies as given
by M. Sars is so accurate that I need not add to it ; suffice
to say, I have also observed the rows of globules, the ar-
rangement of the calcareous parts, &c. in all the kinds of
Pedicellaria he describes. Of one point I cannot satisfy
myself, that there is a knob on the shell for every Pedicel-
laria ; moreover, they are not all on the shell, there are
great numbers on the oral membrane. I have over and
over again repeated M. Sars’s experiment of irritating the
skin, without obtaining the result he mentions. In no
case did the Pedicellaria: bend of themselves towards the
irritated point, and the same I may say of the spines.
No irritation of one Pedicellaria affected those in its
neighbourhood unless they were accidentally touched.
The fleshy substance of these bodies is exactly that of
many animals of acritous structure, and they are so
scattered over the body of the Urchin, without reference
to form or figure, that it is almost impossible to assign
them, or the various kinds of them, special offices in the
animal’s economy. Each seems independent of the others,
and of the Sea-Urchin, which is not the case with the
spines. As to their resemblance to an Echinus spine
I can see but little. I agree with M. Sars in believing
Schweigger to have been mistaken when he stated Pedi-
cellaria to exist on certain testaceous Mollusca ; but can
by no means consider the question of their nature to be
settled, and find myself quite undecided as to whether they

160

€1 DA RITES.

are organs of the Echinodermata, or parasitic creatures,
though inclined to the former opinion.

The common Sea-Urchin is usually of a reddish or
purplish colour with white spines. The spines are in some
specimens tipped with purple. It lives in various depths
of water, extending its range from the littoral zone to that
of Corallines. It usually congTegates in greatest numbers
on a clean sea bottom. It is found on all the shores of
Britain and Ireland, almost equally common everywhere,
and is much used as a chimney ornament by cottagers.
Abroad, like its congener, the true Echinus esculentus , it is
much eaten, and Pennant says it is eaten by the poor in
many parts of England. Among the ancients it was a
favourite dish, and eaten both raw and cooked in various
ways. The ovaries were the parts selected ; and when
these are full of egg, the animal is in season, which is
usually about autumn. In the month of May I found the
ovaries full of a white milky fluid, which contained little
revolving bodies with eccentric motions. Are these to he
regarded as spermatic animalcules ? Is the animal male
at one season and female at another? Both Dr. Wagner
and M. Milne Edwards look upon the Urchin as bisexual.

PURPLE-TIPPED EGG-URCHIN.

161

PURPLE-TIPPED EGG-URCHIN.

Echinus miliaris. Leske.

Specific Character. — Depressed ; rows of pores not parallel, three pairs of pores
in each row ; spines longitudinally striated, shining, smooth ; striae narrower than
ridges ; primaries long.

Cidaris miliaris saxatilis , Leske, p. 82, tab. ii. f. A, b, c, d, t. xxxviii. f. 2, 3-
Cop. in Encyc. Meth. t. cxxxiii. f. 1, 2, a, b.

Echinus miliaris^ Gmelin, p. 3169. Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert. 1

Edit. II. p. 49 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 367. Blain-
ville, Man. d’Actin. p. 227.

Echinus saxatilis , Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. p. 2847.

Mingled with the common Egg-Urchin on oyster-beds
and scallop-hanks is the little species before us, and pro-
bably it is often passed over as the young of Echinus
sphara. Its long purple spines, however, at once distin-
guish it from the latter in its young state ; and when we
examine it more carefully we find that it presents many
excellent characters peculiar to itself.

M

162

CIDARLTES.

The Echinus miliaris is the least of our native Egg-
Urchins, commonly not measuring more than three-fourths
of an inch across, by three-tenths high ; but it sometimes
attains the diameter of an inch and three-fourths, and a
proportionate height, its form always being much de-
pressed, nor does it vary in that respect like other Ur-
chins. Its body is rose colour, with white tubercles ;
all the primary spines, which are often nearly thrice as
long as the secondaries, are purple, with yellow bases, and
the secondaries yellow. On large examples the primary
spines are not so long in proportion to the others as on
small ; and there is a variety which has all the spines very
nearly equal in size, and very thick. Usually they are
long, tapering and slender, and always shining, which lustre
is derived from the broad smooth ridges on them, and the
strise not crossed by transverse striations. When the
spines are rubbed away, the shell presents a very pretty
radiated appearance in consequence of the tubercles of the
primary spines being much larger and more prominent than
the other tubercles, and closely placed together, forming
twenty white rays on the pink body, there being one large
primary tubercle, and a number of small secondary ones
on each ambulacral and inter-ambulacral plate. The
tubercles are depressed polished spheroids, mounted on
broad prominent bases. On each of the ovarian plates are
four tubercles, three being placed on the upper edge, so
that there is a ring of tubercles round the anus. On each
inter-ovarian plate there is one small tubercle. The ovarian
holes are large, somewhat oval, and surrounded by a dis-
tinct prominence or ring. The madreporiform tubercle is
triangular, prominent, and very porous. The ambulacra
are undulated in consequence of the rows of pores being
arranged almost vertically. Each pair of pores is placed

PURPLE-TIPPED EGG-URCHIN.

163

on a smooth space, and separated from the next by a
finely granulated space.

The Purple-tipped Egg-Urchin is abundant in the Irish
Sea, as also on the west coast of Scotland. The Rev.
Gilbert Laing has sent me a specimen from Orkney. Mr.
Thompson takes it in the north of Ireland, and Mr. Ball
at Dublin and Youghal, where he informs me it is “ usually
dredged up adhering to the dead valves of oysters and other
bivalves. In England it has been observed on the southern
shores, and I have found it in Guernsey. In the month of
August 1839, when seeking for marine animals at low
water on the coast of the last-mentioned island, I had
the pleasure of seeing one of these Urchins exclude its eggs
spontaneously through the ovarian holes.

The Pedicellarise which abound on the spines and near
the mouth of this Egg-Urchin form very interesting micro-
scopic objects. They consist of a head of a rounded form,
apparently bearing three bill-like blades, mounted on a long
flexible pedicle, which is itself placed at one end of a long-
stalk with a bell-shaped extremity at each end made of
the same substance with the head. When highly mag-
nified, the stalk and head appear to consist of a fleshy
substance, having regular transverse rows of granules im-
bedded ; an appearance represented by Sars in his drawings
of the Pedicellarise of Echinus sph&ra. A toothed line
borders the granular space of the bladed part, and a simi-
lar toothed line, marking the junction of the blades, runs
down the centre. All these appearances are well seen in
specimens preserved in spirits, and are represented in the
vignette at page 174.

M 2

164

CIDAR1TES.

ECU IN ID M.

Cl DA RITES.

FLEMING’S EGG-URCHIN.

Echinus Flemingii. Ball.

Specific Character. — Rows of pores subparallel, three pairs in each row ; primary-
spines thick, much fewer than the secondary, and nearly thrice as long ; spines
longitudinally striate ; striae somewhat narrower than the very narrow ridges.

Echinus miliaris , Fleming, Brit. An. p. 478. Wern. Mem. II. p. 246.

Professor Agassiz, when examining the collection of
Dr. Fleming at Aberdeen in October 1840, recognised in
the Echinus miliaris of the “ British Animals,” the splen-

FLEMING S EGG-URCHIN.

165

did new species before us, first found in deep water in
Zetland, and since taken by Mr. Ball, who has long con-
sidered it distinct from any described species, olf Youghal,
on the south-west coast of Ireland, in very deep water,
and by him has been named after its discoverer. It is
by far the finest British species.

In its form it is somewhat conico-globose. The pores
of the avenues are arranged in oblique rows of three pairs
each. These rows are sub-parallel, the last pair of the
one row being parallel with the first of the next. Trans-
verse ridges divide the pairs of pores. On each ambulacral
plate there is one primary tubercle, bearing a primary
spine, with two or three irregularly-placed secondary spini-
ferous tubercles near it. On the lower half of the body
the number of secondary spines is greatly increased. The
inter-ambulacral plates of the lower half have two or three
primary spines each, and several secondaries, while on
those of the upper part the primaries are sometimes want-
ing, though when present generally longer and thicker,
and the number of secondaries is considerably diminished.
The tubercles of the primaries over the whole surface are
elevated on very prominent bases. The ovarian plates
have a few secondaries scattered irregularly over them.
The madreporiform tubercle is prominent, very large,
broadly heart-shaped and compact. The ground colour
of the surface is yellow ; two broad longitudinal stripes of
orange-red blending into the yellow at their edges run
down each division of ambulacral and inter-ambulacral
plates. The spines are yellowish-white, with purplish
bases. The strise which groove their surfaces are more
numerous than in the other British Urchins, and the
intermediate ridges very narrow, though slightly broader
than the strise. There are no transverse strise on the

166

CIDARITES,

spines. The Pedicellarise seem to be very numerous and
very long.

The specimen of this species which Mr. Ball kindly
submitted to my examination, measured thirteen inches
and a half in circumference, and was three inches and
a half in height.

PURPLE EGG-URCHIN,

167

ECHINIDJE.

CIDARITES

PURPLE EGG-URCHIN.

Echinus lividus. Lamarck.

Specific Character. — Rows of pores bent, five pair in each row above and
centrally, but diminishing in number near the mouth ; spines striated ; ridges
broad, smooth ; primary spines longer than secondaries.

Echinus lividus, Lamarck, 1 Edit. II. p. 50 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 367. Blain-
ville, Man. d’Actin. p. 228. Bennett, Lin. Trans,
vol. XV.

Echinus saocatilis , Linnasus ? Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2847 ?

Echinus lithophagus , Leach, Tilloch’s Phil. Mag. vol. XXXIX. p. 100.

The Purple Egg-Urchin measures about two inches in
diameter when deprived of its spines, sometimes a little
more. The spines are usually about an inch in length,
very slender and tapering, and of a deep but shining pur-
ple hue. There is a variety which has the spines much
shorter and thicker, and of an olivaceous green. The
spines always present the same character whatever be
their form, when magnified being finely striate longitu-
dinally, the ridges between the striae rather broad, and
both quite smooth. The primary spines are generally
somewhat longer than the secondaries, but in the green
variety the difference of length is very slight. When the

168

CIDARITES.

spines are rubbed away, the body is of a brownish hue, and
has a highly ornamental appearance in consequence of the
very prominent tubercles. On each ambulacral plate there
is one large tubercle with two smaller, one placed on each
side of it, one of them being among the pores. On each
inter-ambulacral plate there are, except towards the apex,
three large tubercles, the central one largest, and some-
times one or two smaller ones, besides some very small
ones which form irregular borders round the larger. On
each ovarian plate there are three very little tubercles,
forming a border round the anus on their upper margins.
The avenues of pores from the apex to very near the mouth
have five pairs of pores in each oblique row. The rows are
bent, and four of the pairs of pores are above the bend.
Near the mouth the number of pairs of pores in the rows
diminishes, first to four pairs and lastly to three. The
mouth is somewhat pentangular. The entire body of this
Urchin is usually round ; but in one specimen in Mr. W.
Thompson’s collection it is pentangular.

This species was first observed as British by Dr. Leach,
who, supposing it to be altogether undescribed, exhibited
it to the Wernerian Society under the name of Echinus
lithophagus. That distinguished and much-lamented na-
turalist, Mr. E. T. Bennett, afterwards communicated an
account of it to the Linnsean Society, rightly referring it
to the Echinus lividus of Lamarck, but was unaware of its
prior discovery by Dr. Leach. The latter gentleman
named it lithophagus, on account of its singular boring
habit. In many places where it is found it is seen inhabit-
ing cavities or depressions in rocks, corresponding to it in
size, and evidently formed by itself. Mr. Bennett describes
each cavity as circular, agreeing in form with the contained
Urchin, and so deep as to embrace more than two-thirds

PURPLE EGG-URCHIN.

169

of the bulk of the animal inhabitant. They are large enough
to admit of the animal rising in them a little but not of its
coming out easily, and their depth is in several considerably
increased by the deposition around their upper circumference
of a species of coralline several lines in thickness, and by
a thin layer of which they are lined throughout. The
Urchins adhere by their numerous suckers so firmly to the
lodgement they have formed as to be forced with extreme
difficulty from them when alive.

In the British isles this species is peculiar to Ireland,
where it is chiefly found in the south, but ranges as
far north as Bundoran, where it was noticed by Mr.
Hyndman. Mr. Ball, who has paid particular atten-
tion to this species, communicates five varieties. The first
is a burrower in limestone from Arran, on the coast of
Clare. It has long purple spines. The second is from
the same place, and is associated with the first, also bur-
rowing in limestone. It is not found in such great num-
bers, and differs in having shorter and thicker spines of a
dark olive-green colour. The third has also short thick
spines, very blunt and purple. It is found on granite rocks
in the county Mayo, hut does not excavate. The fourth
is associated with the third, and has whitish spines with
purple tips, the primaries being longest. The fifth is from
the county Cork, and has very long slender purple spines.
It is found on a very soft clay slate, and does not burrow.

44 The coast of the county of Clare, Mr. Humphreys in-
forms me,” says Mr. Bennett, 44 at Milltown Mallbay, and
indeed from the mouth of the Shannon northward to the
Isles of Arran, is without a harbour ; and except a few bays
of fine sand, presents to the eye the most majestic cliffs.
Wherever the rocks project into the sea, so as to form
ledges accessible at low water, protected in front by higher

170

CIDARITES.

rocks, and which are never left entirely dry, these ledges
are perforated by the Echini ; and I have seen thousands
of them lying in these cavities side by side. The largest
which I saw thus embedded were about three inches in
diameter, and the few that I perceived out of their nidi.
All that I thus observed were of the same species. The
fishermen sometimes take the common Echinus in their
lobster-pots ; but these are never lodged in the rock. I
have been lately informed that they lodge in a similar
manner in the rocks about Berehaven and Bantry in the
west of our county (Cork).”

Mr. W. Thompson informs me it is gregarious, and was
seen abundantly in rock pools at low water by himself and
Mr. Ball when visiting the south Isles of Arran in 1834.
It is always stationary, the hole in which it is found being
cup-like yet fitting so as not to impede the spines. Every
one lived in a hole fitted to its own size, the little ones in
little holes and the large ones in large holes ; and their
purple spines and regular forms presented a most beautiful
appearance studding the bottoms of the grey limestone
rocks’ pools. The same gentleman states that the coral
lining the cavities, alluded to by Mr. Bennett, is the com-
mon Millepora. I saw it under similar circumstances in
Donegal Bay, in August 1840.

Mr. Ball has paid much attention to this animal at the
request of the British Association, with a view to discover
its mode of boring, though as yet without conclusive
results. He brought from Galway some masses of lime-
stone with the animals alive in situ. “ These,” Mr. Ball
says, “ I deposited in various positions at Kingston, some
in baskets, others amongst the rocks, and the remainder I
threw out into the harbour ; all that I could again visit
had died, but as some may have survived it may be well

PURPLE EGG-URCHIN.

171

if you recorded the fact should they increase, the date
of their introduction to this side of the island, 1836, may
thus he known.1’

That these Urchins live in cavities of rocks was ob-
served long ago by Rondeletius, who figures some in
that situation. That these cavities are formed by the
animals, and are not mere depressions from some other
cause, is the opinion of those who have attended most to
their history, of Dr. Leach, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Ball, and
Mr. Thompson. How the boring is effected is another
question, and one not as yet settled. The probability is
that the animal forms the first perforation by means of
the teeth, and softens the rock by some secreted solvent.
The circumstance of its burrowing in limestone only, fa-
vours this view, especially as when found on soft clay
slate they do not bore, though such animals as the
pholas, which bores by mechanical means, perforate slate
— a rock mineralogically similar.

The subject of boring animals is still open to the zoolo-
gist and chemist. Much has been written on it but little
satisfactory. Dr. Drummond has suggested that some of
these creatures may have the power of decomposing the
sea-salt as their wants may require, and applying the
liberated muriatic acid to the solution of the calcareous
rock. Mr. Thompson has some interesting observations
on the subject in a paper on the Teredo navalis and Lim-
noria terebrans published in the Edinburgh New Philo-
sophical Journal for January 1835.

172

CIDARITES.

ECHINI!) /E.

Cl DA RITES.

SILKY-SPINED EGG-URCHIN.

Echinus neglectus. Lamarck.

Specific character. — Rows of pores bent, five pair in each row throughout ;
spines thick, conic, glistening, longitudinally striate ; striae and ridges equal,
transversely striated ; primary spines scarcely longer than secondaries.

Echinus neglectus , Lamarck, An. sans Vert. 1 Edit. II. p. 49 ; 2 Edit. Ill,

p. 366. Encyc. Meth. pi. cxxxiii. fig. 3, a, b.

Echinus lividus , var. Blainv. Man. d’Actin. p. 226.

Echinus subangularis , Fleming, Brit. An. p. 479.

The form of this Urchin is depressed and angular ; the
ground colour dark brownish-purple with pinkish- white
tubercles and greenish spines. From the Echinus lividus
it is easily distinguished by its short spines, greater size,
and the pairs of pores being always live in each row from

SILKY-SPINED EGG-URCHIN.

173

apex to month. When fresh taken, one is much more apt to
confound it with a depressed variety of the common Sea-
Urchin, from which, however, the five pairs of pores in
each row at once distinguish it, independent of the excel-
lent characters presented by the spines. The spaces be-
tween the rows of pores are rather broad and very tuber-
cular, bearing secondary spines. The ambulacral plates
are rather narrow, each bears two primary tubercles, which
are very prominent, and polished and elevated on promi-
nent bases, round which a number of secondaries are
seen. Each inter-ambulacral plate bears a transverse row
of four or five primaries, with a number of secondaries
interspersed. The primaries diminish in number towards
the apex. The ovarian plates are thickly studded with
secondary tubercles, and the madreporiform tubercle is
large, prominent, heart-shaped, and compact. The spines
thickly stud the body, and are nearly equal in size. They
have a fine silky lustre, and when magnified are seen to
be striated longitudinally, the strise and the intermediate
spaces nearly equal in breadth and crossed by very fine
transverse strise. The largest specimen measured a little
more than nine inches in circumference, and was one inch
and eight-tenths in height.

This Sea-Urchin was first added to the British list
by Dr. Fleming, and afterwards found by Mr. Groodsir
and myself, during our visit to the Orkney and Shet-
land Islands in the summer of 1839. We obtained
three specimens of it, each of which was taken in a locality
distant from the other two. The first we dredged in
ten fathoms water, opposite the town of Lerwick ; the
second, off Scalloway on the west coast of the Mainland
of Shetland ; and the third, in rather deeper water in the

174

CIDARITES.

neighbourhood of Stromness, Orkney. I have little
doubt as to its being the Echinus neglectus of La-
marck. Klein’s “ Cidaris miliaris, sp. in. angulosa,” t.
n. f, and hi. a, b, resembles it greatly, but has been
referred to an Indian species, the Echinus subangulosus
of Lamarck.

The vignette represents the microscopic structure of
the head and stalk of a Pedicellaria.

GREEN PEA- URCHIN.

175

ECHINID/E.

CL YPE ASTERISK.

Genus Echinocyamus. Leske.

Generic Character. — Body oval, with rounded sides; ambulacra dorsal, five,
short ; mouth central, inferior ; anus between the mouth and posterior margin.

GREEN PEA-URCHIN.

Echinocyamus pusillus. Muller.

Specific Character . — Body ovate, depressed, beneath concave ; apex central.

Spatangus pusillus ,
Echinus ovalis depressus ,
Ovulum marinum ,
Echinus pereociguus ,
Echinus minutus ,
Echinocyamus minutus ,
Echinocyamus pusillus ,
Fibularia ,

Muller, Zool. Dan. p. 18, tab. xci. figs. 5, 6.
Walker, Test. Min. p. 25, t. iii. f. 88.
Borlase, Corn. t. xxviii. f. 26.

Petiver, Gaz. t. xxxi. p. 10.

Gmelin. p. 3194.

Blainville, Man. d’Actin. p. 214.

Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 481.

Lamarck.

The genus Echinocyamus is one of the connecting links
between the true Echini and the Spatangacea. It has the
teeth of the former, and the spines of the latter. The
little species before us is the least of all the British Urchins,

176

CLYPE ASTERISK.

and at the same time one of the commonest and prettiest.
When alive it is of a bright green colour, such a powdery
green as is seen on the elytra of many beetles ; but when
cast on the shore, as we usually find it, dead, it becomes of
a dirty white. It is very common among shell sand.

The upper surface is depressed ; the general form ovate,
rather broader posteriorly than anteriorly. In the centre
of the back are seen the four ovarian holes, and from these
radiate the five ambulacra, at nearly equal distances from
each other, each composed of two double parallel rows of
seven or eight pairs of pores. These ambulacra run about
half way towards the circumference. They are level with
the surface, which is studded with little flattish moniliform
spiniferous tubercles, which are surrounded by smaller
ones. Beneath, we find the mouth in the centre, which
is somewhat concave, and between it and the broadest
margin is the anus. Both are round, the latter much
smaller than the former. The spines are very short, close-
ly placed, and resembling those of Spatangus in their
structure. The coats of its intestine are covered with
vibratile cilia.

Internally the shell is strengthened by ten strong ribs,
which run in pairs at equal distances from mouth to apex.
The mouth bears a dental apparatus of the same nature
with that seen in Echinus, but different in form, being
much shorter and broader, as befits the shape of the in-
ternal cavity. It consists of five complicated teeth, the
keels of which are greatly produced into compressed beaks,
which are rounded at the margins and grooved. The
whole apparatus has the appearance of five rostra placed
round an ancient naval column.

The Green Pea-Urchin has been observed on most parts
of the coast of Britain from Devon to Shetland, both east

GREEN PEA-URCHIN.

177

and west. In Ireland, Mr. W. Thompson informs me
it is found at Bantry Bay and Portmarnock, and Captain
Portlock finds it in the north. In the Irish Sea it is abun-
dant, and I have dredged it frequently alive in deep water
among bivalve shells. In Guernsey I have found it alive
at low water. It probably is found throughout the seas of
Europe.

I believe the Fibularia ovulum and F. tarentina of
Lamarck, and the Fibularia angulosa of Deslonchamps,
will all prove to be identical with this species.

N

178

CLYPEASTERIiE.

Genus Echinarachnius. Leske.

Generic Character . — Body circular, very much depressed, with the margin sub-
acute and entire ; ambulacra dorsal, five, short ; the ambulacral spaces broader
than the inter-ambulacral ; anus marginal, superior ; mouth central.

THE CAKE-URCHIN.

Echinarachnius placenta. Gmelin.

Specific Character. — Body orbicular, very flat ; ambulacral spaces between the
avenues prominent ; base slightly concave.

Echinarachnius , Lesice, ap. Klein, t. xx. f. a, b. Encyc. Meth.

pi. cxliii. figs. 11, 12.

CAKE-URCHIN.

179

Echinus placenta, Gmelin, 3195.

Echinarachnius placenta, Fleming, Brit. An. p. 479. Gray. Agassiz, Prod.
Scutella placenta, Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert. 1 Edit. vol. III. p. 1 1 ;

2 Edit. vol. III. p. 283. Desmoulins, Echin. p. 228*
Echinodiscus placenta, Blainville, Man. d’Actin. p. 218.

Through the kindness of Professor Jameson I am en-
abled to figure and describe the only British example of
this remarkable Sea-Urchin, one of the many additions he
made to the British Fauna when examining the zoology of
the North many years ago. He obtained it from very deep
water off the island of Foulah, one of the Zetland group.
It is usually recorded in zoological manuals as an inhabi-
tant of the southern seas ; whether it has so wide a range
is questionable, but it is undoubtedly an inhabitant of the
North, as the specimen I describe testifies, and in Mr.
LyelFs collection there are several exactly similar from the
coast of Canada. The Foulah specimen measures two
inches and three-fourths across.

The Cake-Urchin is allied to several genera, presenting
very singular and eccentric forms, — forms which may he
regarded as linking the Sea-Urchins with the true Star-
fishes, and the study of which, therefore, presents many
points of great interest. Even the arrangement of the
parts in the species before us is very Starfish-like, especially
on the under surface. In form it is nearly circular, and
very much depressed, the centre only being somewhat
prominent. The apex is occupied by a pentangular tuber-
cle or button, similar to those seen on the apices of Spa-
tangi, and which prominences may be regarded as of the
same nature with the madreporiform tubercles of the
Echinus and the Starfishes. From this button radiate
five pairs of short ambulacra. In the arrangement of these
ambulacra there is a remarkable generic peculiarity, which
was kindly pointed out to me by Professor Agassiz. It

180

CLYPE ASTERI .

Is this : the ambulacral plates are much broader than the
inter-ambulacral, consequently the two ambulacra nearest
to each other appear to belong to the same pair, whereas
•each belongs to a different pair. That such is the case is
proved by the position of the oviducal pores, which are
seen at the heads of the narrow or inter-ambulacral spaces.
There are four of these pores instead of five, the one want-
ing being the anal pore. At the heads of the ambulacral
spaces there are also minute pores, which are probably in
the living animals filled up with ocular points, as in the
Echinus. The ambulacra are curved, and diverge greatly
towards their extremities ; each is furnished with about
forty pairs of pores for the exsertion of suckers. These
pores are somewhat distant from each other, and connected
by a deep furrow. Down each ambulacral space runs a
smooth groove, which is continued round the under surface
to the mouth. The inter-ambulacral plates are minutely
but irregularly rugose, with spiniferous granules. The
ambulacral are also granulated, but in a more complicated
manner. That portion of their surface nearest the inter-
ambulacral spaces is granulated irregularly, but the rest
is occupied by granules of two sizes arranged in alternate
rows, which slope towards the ambulacral grooves. A
similar arrangement is seen on the under side, with the
addition that the grooves have a border of minute tuber-
cles or granules, analogous to the border avenue-spines of
the Starfish. The vent is lenticular, and is placed quite
on the upper margin in a notch ; there is a short groove
beneath it, which is connected with a smooth shallow
furrow leading to the mouth. The base is almost flat ; if
anything, slightly concave. The mouth is placed in the
centre ; a pentangular space resembling an Asterina, on
which the tubercles are irregularly placed, surrounds it, and

CAKE-URCHIN,

181

it is protected by five groups of spines projecting over it,
as in a Starfish. Within these are teeth. The inside of
the Cake-Urchin is curiously strengthened by irregular
calcareous processes or plates ; and the spines, which are
very minute, are nearly similar in structure to those of
the Spatangi.

The vignette represents a magnified view of a spine,
and of a portion of the surface, showing the arrangement
of the granules.

182

SPAT AN GACE A3 .

ECHINIDM.

SPATANGACEJE.

Genus Spatangus. Klein.

Generic Character. — Body cordate, depressed, having two sets of ambulacra,
dorsal and oral, four of the dorsal ambulacra petaloid ; no dorsal impression ;
sub-anal impression transverse sub-inferior.

PURPLE HEART-URCHIN.

Spatangus purpureus. Muller.

Specific Character. — Broadly heart-shaped, depressed, sloping towards the anus ;
anal impression ovate ; sub-anal broadly reniform ; lateral ambulacra linear lan-
ceolate, pointed at both ends.

Spatangus purpureas, Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2850; Zool. Dan. tab. vi.

Leske, p. 235, t. xliii. fig. 3-5. Lamarck, Anim.
sans Vert. 1 Edit. III. p. 29 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 324.
Encyc. Meth. pi. clvii. f. 1-4. Fleming, Brit. Anim.
p. 480. Blainville, Man. d’Actin. p, 202. pi. xiv.
f. 1,2, 3. Agassiz, Prod.

PURPLE HEART-URCHIN.

183

Echinus purpureus, Gmelin, p. 3197.

Echinus lacunosus , Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p. 69, t. xxxv. f. 76.

Spatangus meridionalis , Risso, t. v. p. 280.

The Heart-Urchins form a very natural division of the
Echinidse. Their name expresses their form ; their colours
are various shades of red, purple, and yellow; most of
them bury themselves in sand or mud, and the greater
number of their spines are directed backwards, doubtless
for the facilitating of this custom of living interment.
The two apertures of their digestive canal are placed very
differently from their positions in the true Egg-Urchins,
the anal being terminal, and the oral eccentric and be-
neath. The mouth is protected by a projecting plate. In
separating the species referred to the old genus Spatangus ,
I have taken a similar view of their generic distinctions
with that maintained by M. Desmoulins, and have not
adopted those proposed by Professor Agassiz, which seem
to me insufficient, and founded on the imperfect evidences
afforded by fossil species. The characters proposed by the
distinguished Swiss zoologist for the separation of his
genera, I must regard as appertaining rather to family and
species. Those afforded by the marks or impressions seen
on the back, round the anus, and below the anus (in the
dried specimen generally naked, in living examples thickly
covered with short slender spines), are constant, certain
arrangements of them agreeing with certain arrangements
of the ambulacra in each generic assemblage of forms.
The five British Spatangi which I find on our shores may
thus be well arranged under three genera, for which I have
severally retained the names of Spatangus , Brissus , and
AmpJiidotus , in order that synonyms be multiplied no more
than is absolutely necessary. The English terms of Bank-
Urchin, Mud-Urchin, and Sand-Urchin might be respect-

184

SPATANGACEJ2.

ively applied to each of these genera as descriptive of
locality. The organic importance of the impressions on
which I have mainly founded my characters is as yet un-
discovered ; though from the circumstance of the genus
Spatangus (proper) having no such marks on the back,
while they are very regular and evident in the two other
genera, and largest in that inhabiting thick mud, may we
not conjecture that the little spines clothing those impres-
sions serve the animal for progression through the medium
in which it buries itself? When we look through a mag-
nifier at the surface of one of these impressions when the
spines are rubbed away, we see the minute tubercles
which cover it are very different from those bearing the
true spines ; and doubtless the purpose of each set of
spines is different also. Strange to say, these impres-
sions, though affording excellent and most obvious spe-
cific as well as generic characters, have escaped mention
in the descriptions of most of the species. The attention
of describers of Spatangi has been chiefly directed to the
number of ambulacra, whether four or five, and to the
depth of the dorsal grooves; most fallacious characters,
especially the former, as in all the species there are four
perfect and lateral dorsal ambulacra, and one imperfect
and central ; which latter, however, has frequently through
carelessness escaped notice, the holes being sometimes
obsolete without though evident within.

The Purple Heart-Urchin is one of the handsomest of
the British Echinidse, and by much the largest and most
elegant of our native Spatangi. It is the only native
species of the restricted genus Spatangus. It grows to
the length of four inches by three and a half broad, and is
occasionally larger. It is of a deep purple colour with
pale spines. Some of these spines are very long and

PURPLE HEART-URCHIN.

185

curved, especially those of the back, towards the anus ;
but the spines which thickly clothe the greater part of the
body are short and close-pressed, bending over each other,
the greater number being directed towards the posterior
extremity. The spines covering the post-oral space be-
neath, are divided into two sets by a median depression,
and each set bends forward from that median line. Their
apices are truncated and compressed, but not much
widened. On each side of the post-oral spinous space
below, there is an avenue which seems naked ; but when
we look closely to the surface, we find there are little
slender hairs scattered here and there on the surface.
These little hairs when magnified prove to be spines, not
differing in their structure from the larger spines. The
spines around the anus bend over it for protection, and the
spines within the bounds of the sub- anal impression form
two projecting tufts or tails.

When we rub away all the spines, we then see the
structure and markings of the shell well displayed. Above
there is a star formed by the four lanceolate leaf-shaped
ambulacra. The number of pores in each of these ambu-
lacra, which are nearly equal in size, is about forty-eight,
and they are placed close together. Transverse grooves
run between the pairs of pores. The two anterior ambu-
lacra are somewhat sinous. The central is placed in a
shallow groove, and almost obsolete ; but when we look
within the shell, we see that its pores are placed pretty
closely together in a single row on each side of the
median suture, the pores of the rows alternating. In the
centre of all the ambulacra is a little oblong-quadrangular
depression, at the anterior end of which are seen the four
ovarian holes, the two hindermost of which are placed
further apart than the two foremost. The whole of the

186

SPATAN GACEiE.

upper surface is rough, with little eminences for the smaller
spines : but between the ambulacra there are many larger
eminences, surrounded by a depressed ring ; these are for
the larger spines, and similar eminences abound on the
under surface. The anus is transversely oblong, and sur-
rounded by an oval ring. Below the anus, and placed in
a great measure below the body, is the post-anal impres-
sion, large, and broadly reniform. The mouth, which is
transverse and narrow, is surrounded by a star of five
lanceolate ambulacra.

In England this species is said to be rare. Pennant
records it from Weymouth. On the Scottish coast Dr.
Fleming states it is common in the Frith of Forth. In
Ireland Mr. W. Thompson informs me it is rare, and is
found on the coast of Wicklow. On the Scallop-banks off
the Isle of Man it is abundant, and is generally found on
the cleanest part of the bank, among the Scallops. On its
spines we sometimes find in considerable numbers, a little
parasitic bivalve Mollusc, the Montacuta substriata.

In foreign countries it is found on the Norwegian coast,
on the shores of France, and in the Mediterranean Sea.

In the vignette I have represented the Pedicellarise of
Spatangus purpureus.

FIDDLE HEART-URCHIN.

187

ECHINI DIE.

SPATANGACEJE.

Genus Brissus. Klein.

Generic Character. — Body cordate, convex, having two sets of ambulacra,
dorsal and oral; four of the dorsal ambulacra petaloid ; a dorsal impression in-
closing the ambulacra ; sub-anal impression transverse, sub-inferior.

FIDDLE HEART-URCHIN.

Brissus lyrifer. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Body ovate ; a deep and narrow dorsal depression ; ambu-
lacra deep; dorsal impression fiddle-shaped; post-oral spinous space narrow,
lanceolate.

The genus Brissus connects the genus Spatangus with
Amphidotus. It has the form of the latter with the

188

SPATANGACE^E.

post-anal impression of the former, and a dorsal impression
peculiar to itself. One British species, which I have called
the Fiddle Heart-Urchin, on account of the peculiar shape
of the dorsal impression, belongs to it. The Brissus lyrifer
I cannot find described or figured in any author on this
subject. It is a very handsome and remarkable species,
having a red body, with pale yellowish white spines, and
the dorsal and post-anal impressions of a rich brownish
purple. It inhabits mud at the depth of from ten to
fifteen fathoms in various localities in the estuary of the
Clyde, as otf the island of Cumbray, in Rothsay Bay, and
the Kyles of Bute, in which places I met with it for the
first time in July 1840. I have a specimen one inch and
three-fourths in length by one and three-tenths in breadth,
and one inch in height. I found fragments which indicated
that it attained larger dimensions.

In form it somewhat resembles a slightly depressed egg ;
the back is convex and highest posteriorly. It is thickly
clothed by long curved spines, those within the post-anal
impression forming two caudiform tufts, and on the post-
oral space they are long, slender, and spathulate at their
extremities. On the back the four lateral ambulacra are
placed in depressions, and form a St. Andrew’s cross.
Each of them is included within the dorsal impression.
The ovarian holes are placed in the centre at the origin
of the four ambulacra ; two of them are placed close to-
gether, and the two anterior diverge. The ambulacra are
ovate, petaloid in form, and have the holes so placed that
the four rows composing the two sets of pairs, are al-
most equally distant from each other, The two anterior
ambulacra are longer than the two posterior, and the
numbers of pairs of suckers in each of the two anterior
are eighteen and twelve, and in each of the two posterior

FIDDLE HEART-URCHIN,

189

twelve and fourteen. The pores of the central ambulacra
are evident, closely placed in two single rows, distant,
and nearly opposite. The anal impression is circular ; the
sub-anal, ample and reniform. On the under surface
the post-oral space is long and narrow, the smooth im-
perforate ayenues wide, and the oral ambulacra somewhat
triangular.

190

SPATANGACEiE.

ECHINIDJE.

SPATANGACEJE.

Genus Amphidotus. Agassiz.

Generic Character. — Body ovate or cordate, convex, having two sets of ambu-
lacra, dorsal and oral ; four of the dorsal ambulacra truncate, oblong ; dorsal im-
pression within the ambulacra ; sub-anal impression ovato-cordiform, terminal.

COMMON HEART-URCHIN.

mermaid’s head.

Amphidotus cordatus. Pennant.

Specific Character. — Body cordiform ; a deep dorsal depression ; dorsal depres-
sion ovate ; post-oral spinous space broadly ovate.

Echinus spatagus, Merret, p. 192. Linnjeus, 1104? Borlase, p. 278,
t. xxviii. f. 28. Encyc. Meth. pi. clvi. f. 28. Lister,
App. t, i. f. 13.

COMMON HEART-URCHIN.

191

Echinus pusillus, Gmelin, 3198.

Echinus cordatus , Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p. 69. t. xxxiv. f. 75.

Spatangus pusillus , Leske, p. 230, t. xxiv. f. c, d, e, xxxviii. fig. 5.

Spatangus cordatus , Fleming, Brit. An. p. 480.

Spatangus flavescens , Muller, Zool. Dan. III. t. xci. f. 1-4.

Spatangus arcuarius , Lam. 1 Edit. III. p. 31 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 328. Blainv,
Man. d’Actin. p. 201.

A mphidotus pusillus, Agassiz, Prod.

The commonest of all the Heart-Urchins is the species
before us, found throughout the seas of Europe. It
abounds in all our sandy bays, and after storms great num-
bers are cast on shore. Popularly it is known by the
names of Mermaid’s-head, Child’s-head Urchin, and Hairy
Sea-egg. In form it is broadly heart-shaped ; dorsally,
the centre is much depressed, and a deep groove with pre-
cipitous sides runs from the ovarian holes to near the
mouth. This depression and part of the groove are
bounded by the ovate dorsal impression from which and
beyond radiate the four ambulacra, which are placed also
in grooves, though not so deep as the centre. These am-
bulacra are very wide at their origins, and taper towards
their centres, when each row of pores runs on parallel, and
is truncate at the extremity. The numbers of pores in
the anterior pair are generally six and eleven in each, in
the posterior nine and nine. The two anterior ovarian
holes approximate, the two posterior diverge. Above the
anus the back is exceedingly prominent, much higher than
any other part of the body. The anus itself is almost
round. It is formed of a number of small triangular hair-
like plates radiating to a centre. These are surrounded
by an ovate ring of eleven small polygonal plates, and
these again are bounded below by five quadrangular plates,
the lowermost of which are very large. The post-anal
impression is somewhat lenticular in form. Beneath, the

192

SPATANGACE^.

body presents a naked but capacious mouth, from which
run five almost smooth avenues, two lateral and short,
two backwards and extended, inclosing the broadly ovate
post-oral spinous space, and one in front running to the
anterior groove. The five oral ambulacra are very short,
and resemble the dorsal one in shape. With the excep-
tion of the avenues the whole of the under surface is
studded with mammillary spiniferous tubercles, which are
very much larger than those on the back, as indeed are
the spines. The spines are hair-like and pointed on the
back and sides, but spathulate on the post-oral spaces.
Mr. Couch states in his “ Cornish Fauna,” that the animal
burrows by means of the lesser spines, and then covers
itself by means of the long ones on the back. From the
ambulacral pores on the back very long ringed worm-like
suckers are protruded, while from those round the mouth
short tentacula, with disks, surrounded by numerous clavate
tentacular filaments, proceed. This difference of form was
noticed by Muller, and is common to the tribe.

When alive, this species is of a yellowish white colour,
and usually measures about an inch and three quarters
in length by very nearly the same breadth, and nearly one
inch and a quarter in height posteriorly. Young shells
are generally longer than broad, but old ones have a
tendency to become broader than long. In a gigantic
specimen found by the Rev. Gilbert Laing in Ireland,
which I owe to the kindness of my friend, Dr. Balfour,
the breadth exceeds the length by more than a quarter of
an inch. This remarkable specimen measures three inches
in length and two in height, and has the sub-anal im-
pression transversely oval, and broader than long. Saving
the last character, however, it presents no grounds for
separation as a species, though the attention of observers

COMMON HEART- URCHIN.

193

is requested to the young state, as, if the peculiar shape of
the sub-anal impression be constant throughout its life, and
not an effect of abnormal growth, the form must be con-
sidered specifically distinct.

M. Sars has observed Pedicellaria on this species. He
says they are but few, from thirty to forty in number.
In size they are rather large. They have a short thin
stem, and a very large head, consisting of three, dark brown,
thick, blunt teeth, which often open and shut as in the
other kinds. They stand in five incomplete rows, rather
irregularly, and only on the back of the shell. The dark
brown head makes them apparent.

When any of the Spatangi tribe are opened, we find
their intestines filled with sand or mud. They seem to
swallow those substances for the sake of the animal matter
mixed up with them.

o

194

SPATANGACEA2.

ECHINIDM.

SPATANGACEM.

ROSY HEART-URCHIN.

Amphidotus roseus. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Body ovate, no dorsal depression ; dorsal impression
oblongo-pentangular ; post-oral spinous space lanceolate.

Spatangus ovatus , Fleming, Wern. Mem. V. p. 287, t. vi. British Ani-
mals, p. 480.

This pretty Heart-Urchin was discovered by Hr. Fle-
ming, who referred it to a figure of Leske’s representing
a different species ; and it is not the ovatus of Continental
authors, to whom it appears to he unknown. I have
accordingly given it the name of roseus , as expressive of its
usual colour when alive. Its form is oval, and its back is

ROSY HEART-URCHIN.

195

convex. It is thickly clothed with long* curved spines, di-
rected as is usual in the tribe. The spines of the post-
oral space have wide bent spoon-shaped tips. On the
back are seen the four lateral ambulacra, approximating
much more nearly at their origins than they do in the
common Heart-Urchin. Within them is the dorsal im-
pression, shaped like an escutcheon, bearing many promi-
nent spiniferous tubercles. Near its posterior extremity
are seen the ovarian holes, two of them placed close to-
gether, two diverging. The ambulacra are not so wide at
their origins as in the last species, and the pairs of pores
are not placed in such deep grooves. In the two anterior
ambulacra there are five pairs in the foremost row and
ten in the hindermost. In the posterior the numbers are
equal, nine in each series. The pores of the central am-
bulacra are nearly obsolete, and are placed in a single
row on each side of the suture, distant and alternate.
The tubercles on the anterior portion of the body are
largest. The anal impression is circular. The sub-anal is
somewhat cordiform, and there are two pores on each
side of the space it incloses. That portion of the back
between the dorsal impression and the posterior extremity
is much wider and not nearly so prominent as the same
part in the last species. On the under surface the post-
oral spinous space is lanceolate, and slightly carinated
throughout its length. The projecting lip over the mouth
is nearly straight. The largest specimen which I have
seen measures one inch and a half in length and one and
a quarter in breadth, and is eight-tenths high.

The AmpMdotus roseus was first found by Dr. Fleming
in Zetland in 1809. Dr. Coldstream afterwards found it
twice on Leith sands. During the winter of 1840, I met
with a dead specimen on the sandy shore at St. Andrew’s ;

196

SPATANGACEvE.

and in Ireland, Mr. Ball, who observes that it is rose-
coloured when alive, has taken it at Dublin and at Youghal.
It occurs also near Belfast. In England, Mr. Couch says
it is found in Cornwall, less common than the last ; and I
have taken it in deep water on the Manx coast.

The vignette represents its Pedicellarise, and one of its
oral tentacula. The former have deep purple heads and
white stalks, and are very irregularly scattered in the
spaces between the two dorsal avenues. The latter are
yellow, and resemble those of Spatangus purpureus, saving
that the Purple Heart-Urchin has brown oral tentacula.

197

HOLOTHURIADiE,

OR CIRRHO-VERMIGRADE ECHINODERMATA.

A Holothuria may be regarded in one light as a soft
Sea-XJrcliin, in another as a radiated animal, approximating
the Annelides. The radiation of the surface is more or
less complete in all the genera of Holothuriadse : the in-
ternal organisation is mostly bilateral. The skin is usually
soft and leathery ; in a few genera strengthened by cal-
careous or horny spines. Five avenues of suckers separate
the hody into as many longitudinal segments, which in the
majority are of equal, or nearly equal dimensions. In some
the suckers are developed only on one side, so that the
animal, when creeping, presents in a manner a back and a
belly. The suckers are similar to those of the true Star-
fishes and Sea-Urchins. Besides progression by means of

198

HOLOTHURIADtE.

these suckers, the Holothuriada move as Annelides, by the
extension and contraction of their bodies. They have a
mouth and an anus, each terminal, and placed at opposite
extremities of their bodies. The mouth is surrounded by
plumose tentacula, the number of which, when they are
complete, is always a multiple of five ; but as these ani-
mals are singularly subject to the loss or absence of parts,
in individuals of the various species much confusion has
arisen from the establishment of supposititious species
from characters founded on abnormal numbers of the
parts. The tentacula are ramose cirrhi ; they can be
retracted within the mouth, and sometimes when in cap-
tivity the animal will not exsert them for
days together, though otherwise active.

They are drawn in with the skin, and
when we cut open a Holothuria having
its tentacula retracted, we find them in
the centre of the dental circle. The cir-
cle of teeth is analogous to that of the
Echini. The oesophagus passes through it, and opens into
a more or less muscular stomach, from which an intestine,
often very complicated, proceeds to the posterior extremity
of the body, where it opens into a funnel-shaped cloacum,
into which also open the two tree-like respiratory organs.
There is a vascular circle (and some say a nervous cord,)
surrounding the mouth, and vessels are distributed from it
to various parts of the body and organs. One or more
sacs of a pyriform shape depend from a vessel surrounding
the pharynx, and are by many believed to be salivary
organs. Mr. Goodsir has found a sac containing cal-
careous concretions on one side of the mouth in certain
species. This he regards as a madreporiform tubercle or
nucleus. The ovaries are in many species very numerous,

HOLOTH URIADiE.

199

in others very few, and unite to form a tube which opens
at one side towards the upper extremity of the animal.
The inner surface of the animal’s skin is lined with power-
ful longitudinal and transverse muscles, by means of which
the creature contracts its body and lengthens it out in
many directions, changing its form in a wonderful man-
ner. Sometimes the creature ejects all its viscera, or
bursts the body with its convulsive contractions. It is
usually stated that the Holothuria do so whenever they
are taken, but such is not the case. I have never seen
the animal disgorge its intestines, but specimens of many
species have I seen in which there was not a trace left of
the creature’s bowels and other internal organs, though it
seemed when taken alive and healthy. It is astonishing
how long they can live deprived of the most essential parts
of their organism. Sometimes they are found wanting
the respiratory organs, and sometimes the generative tubes
are deficient, and these deficiencies so frequently occur that
we should be extremely shy of proclaiming differences in
the internal structure of species ; and when we see genera
and species (as has been the case) anatomically defined
from the want of respiratory trees or genital tubes, we
should be extremely cautious about admitting such, and
rather regard such wants as accidental deficiencies in a
few specimens than as organic peculiarities.

Sir J ohn Graham Dalyell, whose knowledge of the habits
of the lower invertebrate animals exceeds that of any living
naturalist, communicated some most interesting observa-
tions on reproduction of organs in the Holothurise, to the
meeting of the British Association at Glasgow in 1840. He
there stated that he had observed them lose “ the tentacula,
with the cylinder (dental apparatus), mouth, oesophagus,
lower intestinal parts, and the ovarium, separating from

200

HOLOTHUKIADiE.

within, and leaving the body an empty sac behind. Yet
it does not perish. In three or four months all the lost
parts are regenerated, and a new funnel, composed of new
branches as long as the long body of the animal, begins to
exhibit the same peculiarities as the old one, though longer
time be required to attain perfection. Other species of the
Holothuria divide spontaneously through the middle into
two or more parts, all becoming ultimately perfect by the
developement of new organs. Yet the anatomical struc-
ture of the whole genus is so complex as to defy the skill
of anatomists in discovering the proper functions of some
of the parts. A single Holothuria has produced 5000
ova in the course of a night. The young resembles a white
maggot when the size of a barleycorn. The animal may
lose and regenerate its organs more than once, and is very
rarely to be procured entire.”

The Holothuriada are generally distributed through the
seas of the globe, but are congregated in greatest numbers
in the Eastern seas. On our shores they are rare and un-
attractive animals, not often seen even by the zoologist ; but
abroad they are very abundant, and are in some places used
as food. Of one genus, the Trepang, many species are eaten.
In Mr. F. D. Bennett’s interesting “ Account of a Whaling
Voyage round the Globe,” we are told that there are two
kinds of Trepang abundant on the rocks at Raiatia, and
that they are very indolent animals. “ When handled,”
says Mr. Bennett, “ the Trepang contracts its body in a
longitudinal direction, and should its tentacles be expanded
they are instantly concealed ; but no noise or agitation of
the surrounding water will excite these symptoms of alarm,
or cause any attempt to escape. They usually lie exposed
in the shallow waters, though we have very often seen
them buried in beds of coral sand, their plumy tentacles

HOLOTHURIADJE.

201

being alone exposed, and floating in the water above,
apparently as a lure for prey. Some may also be observed
lying on the rocks, their bodies completely encrusted with
coral sand, which may either have been accumulated by a
previous burrowing, or thus used as a disguise. It would
appear to be partly the instinct of the animal to take its
prey in ambush ; but what that prey is, as well as the
entire economy of these Molluscs, remains a perplexing
mystery. Their intestines invariably contain many hard
and solid masses of madreporic rock or tree-coral, some of
them more than an inch in length, and all moulded as
pellets to the calibre of the intestinal canal. It is difficult
to say how these stony bodies have been obtained by the
Trepang, though it is easy to conceive that they may -be
rendered serviceable as nutriment by the assimilation of
the animal matter they contain. It is this animal which
the Malays of the Oriental Isles seek so diligently for the
supply of the China market, where it obtains a good price
when well preserved. It is employed by the Chinese in
the preparation of nutritious soups, in common with an
esculent sea-weed, shark’s fins, edible bird’s-nests, and
other materials, affording much jelly.” Jaeger says the
intestines are extracted, the animal then boiled in sea-
water, and dried in smoke.

The chief writers on the subject of the Holothuriadse
are Della Chiagi, a distinguished anatomist of Naples ;
Jaeger, a German physician ; and Brandt, a Russian
naturalist. The two latter gentlemen have instituted
many genera, and added greatly to the number of species ;
but it seems to me that they have multiplied the genera
overmuch, and not always based them on the soundest and
most permanent characters.

The British Holothuriadee belong to four families, viz.

202

H0L0THURIADJ3.

the P solid je, or Ascidian Holothuriadse, animals approach-
ing the Mollusca in their form, and having a soft circum-
scribed disk like the foot of a Gasteropodous Mollusc on
which the suckers are placed for progression. 2, The
Pentact^e, which have the suckers arranged in five regular
rows, and are more or less angular in form. 3, The
Thyones, which have the suckers scattered all over the
surface of the body ; and, 4, The Synapt^e, in which there
are no suckers on the body, the oral tentacula being the
only representatives of those organs.

SNAIL SEA-CUCUMBER.

203

Genus P solus. Oken.

Generic Character. — Body irregular, ascidiform ; suckers in five rows, three
only of which are developed, and placed on a soft disk or foot ; tentacula ten.

SNAIL SEA-CUCUMBER.

P solus phantapus. Linnaeus.

Specific Character. — Brown ; head reddish white, with orange spots and orange
tentacula ; body covered with pectinated scales, or rugse.

Holothuria phantapus, Linnaeus, Syst. p. 1089. Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod.

2803 ; Zool. Dan. t. cxii. f. 1, 2, 3. Encyc. Meth. pi.
lxxxvi. f. 1-3. Lamarck, 1 Edit. III. p. 73; 2 Edit.
III. p. 440.

Ascidia rustica , Pennant, Brit. Zool. vol. IV. p. 48, t. xxxiii. f. 35.

Cuvieria phantapus, Fleming, Brit. An. p. 483. Johnston, Mag. Nat.

Hist. IX. p. 472, f. 86.

P solus phantapus, Jaeger, de Hoi. p. 2. Brandt, Prod. Agassiz, Prod.

Throughout Nature we find creatures belonging to one
class emulating the forms of another. Here we have an
animal of the radiate type emulating the symmetrical forms

204

PSOLIDiE.

of the Ascidian Mollusca. When the tentacula of the
Psolus phantapus are withdrawn, the animal has all the
aspect of an Ascidia ; so striking, indeed, is the resem-
blance, that twice have naturalists of repute been deceived,
and twice has it been figured as an Ascidia.

The body of this animal measures from six to eight
inches in length, and from two to three in height. It is of
an oblong form, and turned up at both extremities. Be-
neath, there is a soft oblong square disk, the surface of
which is studded with three longitudinal rows of suckers,
which are large and strong. There are from two to three
placed across the breadth of each row, but at each extre-
mity of the disk the suckers increase in number, so that
the ends of the rows are sometimes connected by transverse
rows of suckers. The spaces between them are smooth.
All the rest of the body is covered with a tough coriaceous
skin of a deep brown colour ; beneath it is lighter, and there
are sometimes orange dots. This skin is strengthened by
a scale-like arrangement of short spines placed on tuber-
cles, so that the integument of the Psolus approaches in its
character to that of the true Starfishes. Along the hack
are two deep longitudinal furrows, which indicate the two
rows of suckers wanting, or rather obsolete. The hinder
part is somewhat conical, and more turned up at the vent
than the anterior, which is rather obtuse and bears the
large head. This head or neck is about an inch in length,
and covered with a soft skin, of a more or less reddish
colour, with orange or scarlet spots, and a few conical
white papillse, which Dr. Johnston states are arranged
in five imperfect rows. At its extremity are five large
triangular, shelly, pedunculated tentacula of a bright
orange colour, with darker spots. These tentacula are

SNAIL SEA-CUCUMBER.

205

ten in number. The vent is surrounded by a circle of
suckers.

Dr. Johnston remarks on the skin, “ The coat is divisible
into two parts, viz. an exterior scaly true skin of a sub-
calcareous texture, and an inner muscular layer formed of
ligamentous fibres arranged in close parallelism, and trans-
verse or circular in their direction, so that when in action
their effect must be a compression of the body, by which
it will be elongated and rendered slenderer. The pro-
trusile part of the mouth is entirely formed by a continu-
ation of this ligamentous coat, which likewise, in a more
delicate modification, forms the arborescent tentacular

When dissected, we find the generative tubes very long
and numerous, a very large oesophageal sac, and a respira-
tory tree moderately branched. The muscles of this ani-
mal are remarkably powerful.

The Psolus adheres to substances with great firmness by
means of its ventral disk, much stronger than any of the
other Holothuriada , as might be expected from the con-
centration of its locomotive organism. So powerfully does
it adhere, that I have known the head of the animal carried
away by the dredge when it brought up entire every other
fixed animal which it came in contact with.

Pennant first recorded the species as British. He says
it was taken off Scarborough. Dr. Fleming states it is
occasionally found, from Devon to Zetland. Dr. Johnston
found it on the coast of Berwickshire. Mr. Goodsir has
twice procured it on the coast of Fife in deep water. I
have taken it in ten fathoms water in the Gair Loch,
opposite Helensburgh, on the Clyde. Mr. W. Thompson
has recorded it as obtained by him in 1835 at Bangor,
county of Down.

206

PSOLID.E.

It was first discovered on the coast of Norway by Mul-
ler. The genus ranges to the Indian seas. The Psolus
tenama of Jaeger and Lesson should form the type of
another genus, distinguished by its twenty tentacula.
The genus Gumeria of Peron should he united with Psolus.
The family of Psolida is a very natural group.

The vignette represents the entrance to the Frith of
Forth, with the Bass Bock and North Berwick Law.

SHORT PSOLINUS.

207

HOLOTHURIADJE.

P ENT ACT 'M.

Genus Psolinus. Forbes.

Generic Character . — Body irregular, ovate, arcuated, with five rows of distant
suckers, those below always bent ; tentacula ten ; dental apparatus short, trun-
cate ; no gizzard.

THE SHORT PSOLINUS.

Psolinus brevis. Forbes and Goodsir.

Specific Character. — Body obtuse posteriorly, pinkish white, with minute
papillae ; tentacula long, pedicled, digitate at the extremity.

Holothuria brevis , Forbes and Goodsir, Athenaeum, No, 618.

The genus Psolinus , which I have thought it right to
constitute for the reception of the singular little Holothuria
which was discovered by Mr. Goodsir and myself in the Shet-
land seas, adhering to the stems of Laminarise, and which
I afterwards found in a similar situation in the Kyles of

208

PENTACT^E.

Bute, links the family of Psolidse with that of Pentactse ;
but, wanting a ventral disk, appertains rather to the latter
group than to the former. The Psolinus brevis is about
half an inch in length, of an ovate form, with both its
extremities bent upwards. The body is of a pinkish white
colour, and covered with delicate skin, minutely papillated.
There are five rows of suckers, which range single, six or
seven in a row, distant from each other ; those of the con-
vex or undermost side are very long and always bent, the
bending seeming to depend on some peculiarity of organis-
ation, and not on the will of the animal. The posterior
part of the body is very obtuse, but the anterior tapers to
a narrow neck. The tentacula are very long, white, and
digitated at their extremities.

Internally we find a well developed intestinal tube, but
no gizzard ; moderately developed respiratory trees, few
genital tubes, and one oesophageal sac. The teeth are short
and truncate.

In its habits it appears sluggish as regards progressive
motion, but moves about its tentacula freely.

GREAT SEA-CUCUMBER.

209

IIOL 0 THU PI A DM. PENTACTM.

G-enus Cucumaria. Blainville.

Generic Character . — Body regular, more or less pentangular, with five longi-
tudinal rows of approximate suckers ; tentacula ten ; dental apparatus composed
of nearly square plates (no gizzard).

GREAT SEA-CUCUMBER.

Cucumaria frondosa. Gunner.

Specific character. — Body ovate, nearly smooth, dark purple brown on one side,
purplish white on the other ; suckers alternate, two-ranged, in five rows ;
tentacula pedunculate, frondose.

Holothuria frondosa , Gunner, Act. Stock. 1767, pi. iv. f. 1, 2. Fabric, Fauna.

Groenl. p. 353. Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. No. 2802.
Encyc. Meth. pi. Ixxxv. figs. 7, 8. Lamarck, 1 Edit.
III. p. 73 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 439.

Holothuria pentacta, Abilgaarb, Zool. Dan. 108. 1, 2, and 124.

Holothuria grandis , Forbes and Goodsir, Athenaeum, No. 618.

Pentacta frondosa , Jaeger, de Hoi. p. 12.

The Sea-Cucumbers are the most typical of the Holo-
thuriadse, and their popular name is very expressive of their

p

210

PENTACTyE.

usual form. They have all the power of changing their
shapes in the strangest manner, sometimes elongating them-
selves like worms, sometimes contracting the middle of
their bodies, so as to give themselves an hour-glass shape,
sometimes blowing* themselves up with water so as to be
perfectly globular. Many of the species are apathetic in
character, but others are exceedingly active, drawing* in
and sending out their tentacula with great vivacity.
They are by no means elegant animals, being rather dis-
agreeable in aspect ; though when their tentacula are
expanded they cannot fail but excite some degree of ad-
miration even in the most careless observer. Their habits
are not well known, in consequence of their rarity and
the difficulties attending the observation of them. They
usually live among sea- weeds, or in mud, and are supposed
to seize their prey by means of their large tentacula. The
genus ranges over the greater part of the seas of the
globe, and there are many species which have, however,
from want of appreciation of essential characters by their
describers, been very dubiously characterised.

The Great Sea-Cucumber is the largest of all the known
European species, and probably one of the largest Cucum-
aria in the world, measuring when at rest fully one foot,
and capable of extending itself to the length of three. He
is the king of the Sea-Cucumbers, and seems to have
gathered the greater number of his subjects around him in
the Shetland seas, where his majesty was first recognised
as a native of Britain by Mr. Goodsir and myself in June
1 839. When he first came up in the hooks of the dreg,
an instrument used by the Shetlanders as a means of pro-
curing horse-mussels, Modiola vulgaris , called by them
Yoags, for bait, he astonished us with his monstrous ap-
pearance. The Shetlanders designate him by the some-

GREAT SEA-CUCUMBER.

211

what undignified name of Sea-Pudding, a sobriquet not
altogether inappropriate. He is arranged by them in an
extensive though most unphilosophically constituted class
of marine animals, to which they apply the term 44 Pushen,”
which being translated signifies poison. In this Thulean
arrangement numbers of the rarest of British animals are
unfortunately included, — I say, unfortunately, for all mem-
bers of the class Pushen are unceremoniously and speedily
thrust overboard almost as soon as seen in the fishing-boats,
being considered unlucky and dangerous in their nature.
The class is not an ultimate division. The Shetland fisher-
men arrange all marine animals not used as food under
the general head of 44 Combustibles,” — certainly a most
extraordinary application of that excellent English word.
44 Combustibles'” they divide into Harmless Combustibles
and Pushen, under which last division I fear all the
animals which it has been my fortune to describe in this
volume must take their places.

The body of this Cucumaria when at rest is of an ovate
form, and somewhat pentagonal. It is nearly smooth, and
is very dark purple on one side, and inclined to whitish on
the other. Between the angles on the darker side there
are a few scattered suckers. On the angles are five double
and alternate ranges of suckers. The tentacula are large,
ten in number, frondose and pyramidal. Their branches
are beautifully pinnate, and of a dark brown colour with
occasional whitish dots.

Internally we see a complicated intestine, and a stomach
strengthened by granulated strise, hut no gizzard. The
generative tubes are very long, and exceedingly numerous,
more so than in any other British species. There are two
oesophageal sacs. The so-called respiratory trees are highly
developed, but there is no appearance of cilia on their sur-

212

PENT ACT A3.

face, either internal or external. Yibratile cilia are only
seen on the mesentery, and there they are very minute.
The inside of the skin presents the vesicles of the suckers,
pyriform, and of a pink colour. The teeth are broadly
triangular.

Unwieldy as this animal is, it seems active ; one we kept
alive in a vessel of sea- water was always in motion. It
inhabits the Sound of Bressay opposite the town of Ler-
wick, in from seven to ten fathoms water, living among
the mud close to the town in places where all the refuse of
the sewers must collect. The fishermen assured us that
they are found in great numbers off Fitful Head. Mr.
Goodsir obtained one off the coast of Fife, which does not
appear to differ from the Shetland specimens, and is equally
large.

When we described this species at the meeting of the
British Association at Birmingham, we called it grandis.
There can be little doubt, however, that it is the animal
called Holothuria frondosa by Gunner, and referred to by
Fabricius and Muller, as attaining the length of a foot.
The pentacta of Abilgaard is evidently identical. The
name grandis has been applied by Brandt to another
species from the Caroline Isles.

Some of the changes of form assumed by this species are
represented below.

ANGULAR SEA-CUCUMBER.

213

ANGULAR SEA-CUCUMBER.

Cucumaria pentades. Muller.

Specific Character .■ — Body elongate, pentangular, rough with strong suckers at
the angles ; intermediate spaces smooth ; suckers numerous, alternate ; tentacula
peduncled, plumose.

Holothuria pentades ,

Hydra corallifera , $c,
Holothuria Gaertneri ,

Pentacta 'pentades ,

Var. Holothuria Montagui ,

Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 2806 ; Zool. Dan. t. xxxi.
f. 8. Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p. 51, No. 41,
t. xxvi. f. 41. Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 482.
Lamarck, 1 Edit. III. p. 73 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 441.
Gaertner, Phil. Trans. 1761, p.75,t. i.b, fig. 3, a,b.
Blainville, Diet. Sc. Nat. t. xxi. p. 318 ; Man.

d’Actin. p. 195.

Jaeger, de Holuth. p. 12.

Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 483. Montagu, Lin.

Trans. IX. p. 1 12, t. vii. f. 4.

In every difficult and partially investigated tribe or genus,
there is some scapegoat species which serves as a general re-

214

PENTACTiE.

pository for all animals which cannot easily be referred to
any other more definitely characterised, no matter how
unlike they may be to each other. By this means the local
faunist and florist ease their consciences when puzzled, and
the compilers of systems of nature, when synonyms crowd
too thickly upon them. Among the Holothuriada the Holo-
thuria pentactes has hitherto had the dubious notoriety of
being scapegoat general and refuge for the destitute.

Unfortunately, in Muller’s Zoologia Danica, three dis-
tinct species have been figured under the name of pentactes ;
one of these, however, is so evidently the pentactes of the
Prodromus Zoologise Danicse, the Hydra corallifera figured
by Graertner, and usually referred to as pentactes , though
by Blainville made distinct under the name of H. Gaertneri ,
and the pentactes figured by Pennant ; and, moreover, is
the only one which agrees with the original character,
66 H. tentaculis denis ; corpore quinquefariam verrucosa,”
(alluding to the strong wart-like suckers,) that I have no
hesitation in confining the name to the species which I
have here figured. The Holothuria pentactes of the Faune
Fran§aise is also evidently the same animal, at least the
body is, for the tentacula seem to have been drawn from
the imagination of the painter, following out his view of
the term “ pinnate,” which has been carelessly applied
to them.

The Cucumaria pentactes is of a long cylindrical form,
very angular, having double rows of strong warty suckers
placed alternately on the five angles. The skin is very
coriaceous and quite smooth. The tentacula ten, large,
more or less plumose or dendriform and pedunculate. It
measures from two to four inches in length. Internally
we find largely developed respiratory trees, moderately
numerous genital tubes, two oesophageal sacs, the one large

ANGULAR SEA-CUCUMBER.

215

and globose, the other small, and small broadly triangular
plates composing the dental apparatus.

It is extremely variable in colour ; generally of a deep
purple, sometimes altogether white, sometimes purplish
white. The tentacula and head of both varieties vary
equally, either purple or white. It varies also in the
pinnation of the tentacula, and in their relative size and
number. The Holotlmria Montagui of Dr. Fleming, founded
on a white variety described by Montagu, has eight full
sized tentacula and two small ones, which are alternately
in motion, covering the mouth. The tentacula of this form
are not so pinnate as in the common or purple state. The
Holotlmria Dicquemarii of Cuvier seems to be a quadran-
gular variety with similar tentacula. It varies also with
six angles. It can change its form at pleasure, and some-
times contracts itself so as to become exceedingly hard.
Giaertner well remarks that “ in its contracted state it has
more of the appearance of a caterpillar than of a polype."0

That author, who first observed it on the coast of Bri-
tain, gives the following characteristic description of its
suckers and tentacula : — “ The surface of its cylindrical
body is marked with six double rows of perforated knots,
which the animal can transform into as many legs if occa-
sion requires, by extending each tuberculum into a small
transparent cylinder, whose extremity, like that of the
suckers of the Starfish, sticks fast to everything which the
animal gets hold of, and consequently serves as an instru-
ment, not only to fix its body with, but also to push it
forward by the help of many of these suckers that are
formed of the several knots of different rows. The feelers
are eight or ten in number, and of the same substance and
colour with the head ; they are divided into several
branches, to which as well as to the principal stems many

216

PENTACTiE.

clusters of very minute papillae adhere, which make them
exactly resemble small branches of trees covered with
their leaves. These leaves or papillae not only contribute
to the beauty of the feelers, being of a pale yellow, mixed
with a shining white, like silver, but they also render the
feelers more useful to the animal in filling up the inter-
stices between them, through which smaller insects else
must pass without being perceived by the animal whose
natural food they are.” “ This polype seems to live at the
bottom of the sea, distant from the land. I met with it
but once upon the shore between Penzance and Newland,
where it was thrown up by the sea inclosed in a large
hollow root of the Fucus palmatus”

GaertneFs inference about its habitat is not correct.
The circumstances under which he found it would indicate
its locality to be the region of Laminarise. Pennant
dredged it at Weymouth, and Montagu on the coast of
Devonshire. I have dredged many of all varieties in the
Frith of Clyde. In the Gair Loch it is abundant in about
ten fathoms water.

Abroad it inhabits the coasts of France and of Norway.

COMMON SEA-CUCUMBER.

217

HOLOT1IUR1ADJE. PENTACTJE.

COMMON SEA-CUCUMBER.

Cucumaria communis. Forbes and Goodsir.

Specific Character. — Body elongate, pentangular, with numerous alternate
suckers at the angles ; skin papillose ; tentacula pedunculate, plumose.

It is very probable that this animal, which appears to
be common on some parts of our coast, is the species
usually referred to as Holothuria pentactes. It lias, how-
ever, no immediate relation with that species. It attains
the size of from four to eight inches, and is of a cucumber
shape. Its tentacula are ten in number, pinnate, and
plumose, stalked, and rather large. They are of a deep
red colour. The body is five-sided, with numerous suckers
on the angles, but none on the sides, which are papillose.
The Scottish specimens I have seen are of a yellow colour,
the Irish purplish, but otherwise they do not differ. On
dissection, we find a moderately branched respiratory tree,
and very numerous genital tubes. The muscular system
is highly developed. The inside of the gullet is of a deep
brown colour.

218

PENTACTJE.

Great numbers of this species have been thrown ashore
after storms on the east coast of Fifeshire, where they
were observed by Mr. Goodsir. They probably inhabit
the region of Laminarise not far from land. On the Irish
coast it has been dredged in the north by Mr. W. Thomp-
son, and at Youghal by Mr. Ball. From the remarks of
the fishermen on the coast of Scotland, it would seem to
be by much the most common of its genus. It is fre-
quently found in the stomach of the Cod.

LONG SEA-CUCUMBER.

219

HOLOTHURIADJE.

P ENT ACT /E.

LONG SEA-CUCUMBER.

Cucumaria fusiformis. Forbes and Goodsir.

Specific Character. — Body much elongated, cylindrical, white, rough with
papillae ; suckers numerous, alternate, in five regular rows ; tentacula ten, short,
triangularly pinnate.

Holothuria fusiformis , Forbes and Goodsir, Athenaeum, No. 618.

This is the longest, in proportion to its thickness, of all
the British Sea-Cucumbers. It is a small species, measur-
ing about an inch in length. It is rounded, and tapers
slightly towards each extremity. The pinkish-white skin
is covered with plumose papillae, and the five rows of
suckers are not prominent. The suckers are doubly
ranged, and alternate in each row, generally above thirty.
The tentacula are ten, short, somewhat triangular, white,
and pinnated to their bases. It is a sluggish animal, and
not fond of changing form. We dredged several specimens
in the Shetland seas during the summer of 1839.

The specimens examined, when dissected, presented the
respiratory trees rather simpler than in its allies, the in-
testinal canal well developed, and the teeth rather small ;
but we found no traces of genital tubes or of an oesopha-
geal sac. The examples were probably young specimens ;
but there can be no question of the distinctness of the

220

PENTACTiE.

species from any other British kind of Cucumaria. It is
allied to the HolotJiuria fusus of Muller, and is one of
those forms which connect the true Cucumaria with the
singular worm-like S 'ynapta, many of which at first sight
rather resemble Annelides than HolotJiuria. None of these
curious creatures have as yet been discovered in the British
seas ; indeed they seem mostly to be congregated in the
Indian Sea, and among the islands of the Pacific. They
are often beautifully coloured, and attain a great size, even
three feet and more in length. The HolotJiuria digitata of
Montagu, a species of Ohirodota probably, appears to be
allied to them.

Mr. F. D. Bennett describes one of these worm-like
HolotJiuria as having its cylindrical body usually distended
with muddy water ; its skin rough with minute spines,
and of a clouded olive colour, and its mouth surrounded
by tentacula, and furnished with bony plates. He says it
lies passive upon the coral shoals close to the land, its
body placed in a waved form and often attached by its
posterior extremity to a rock. The disappearance of the
feet, small hooked prickles supplying their places, indicates
the progression through JS ynapta of the Holothuriadse to
the Sipunculida.

GLASSY SEA-CUCUMBER.

221

IIOL 0 TIIURIA DJE.

PENT ACT 'M.

GLASSY SEA-CUCUMBER.

Cucumaria liyalina. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Body elongate, translucent, bluish- white ; suckers nu-
merous, alternate, in five rows ; intermediate spaces papillose ; tentacula pedun-
culate, plumose, white.

Holothuria pellucida, Fleming, Brit. Anim. p. 483. Forbes and Goodsir,
Athenaeum, No. 618.

The Glassy Sea-Cucumber is a most beautiful and deli-
cate animal, being almost transparent and of an opaline hue.
It was discovered by Dr. Fleming in the Shetland seas,
and was refound by Mr. Goodsir and myself when dredg-
ing near Lerwick in 1839. In both cases it was referred
to the HolotJmria pellucida of Muller, which is doubtless a
nearly allied species, but differs from our animal in being
quite smooth. The smoothness and fleeciness of the sur-
face of the Sea-Cucumbers is of great importance as a source
of specific character in the genus, being very constant.
When at rest, the Glassy Sea-Cucumber is of a fusiform
shape, and attenuated at each extremity. The tentacula

222

PENTACTJE.

are large, pedunculate, and pinnate at their extremities.
The suckers are placed in two close rows in each avenue.
The specimen taken by us was two inches and a half in
length. Dr. Fleming says it attains the length of six
inches.

On opening our specimen we found one oesophageal
sac, a complicated intestine, a moderately developed re-
spiratory tree, and rather small teeth. The generative
tubes were wanting. It is probable these tubes are not
developed in the Holothuriadse until the animal has at-
tained a certain age, as we almost always found them
wanting in such specimens as appeared to be young. The
one before us being only half grown (supposing the size
noted by Dr. Fleming to be the animal’s full dimensions)
bears out the observation.

DRUMMOND S SEA-CUCUMBER.

223

HOLO THURJA DAE.

PEN TACT IE.

DRUMMOND’S SEA-CUCUMBER.

Cucumaria Drummondii. Thompson.

Specific Character. — Olivaceous and white, with light brown suckers ; ten-
tacula long, pedicled, trifid, plumose, purple.

Holothuria Drummondii , Thompson, An. Nat. Hist. vol. Y. p. 100. (April
1840.)

Dr. Drummond, one of the excellent naturalists who
domicile in Belfast, and author of several interesting works
and important papers on various departments of natural
history, drew up the following description of this species,
which Mr. Thompson has dedicated to its discoverer, from
the living animal found by him in Belfast Bay : — “ Bangor,
June 27, 1839. Holothuria dredged yesterday, of an

224

PENTACTiE.

olivaceous and white colour ; at first the shape of a lemon,
and nearly as large as a middle-sized one ; to-day two
inches long, contracting itself slowly in many places, but
has not yet shown its tentacula. It has five broad longi-
tudinal bands of tubercle-like suckers running from end to
end ; these have four in each transverse row ; suckers
light brown ; down the middle of each of the five series
a whitish band extends to the spaces between the belts
of suckers of a bluish- white, with numerous narrow trans-
verse whitish lines of various breadth.” When preserved
in spirits, in which state I examined and delineated it,
the body appeared white, with a tinge of pink, angular
and corrugated; the corrugations were smooth, and the
suckers very numerous on the angles. There were from
six to twelve suckers in each transverse irregular row, and
a few scattered in the furrows between the corrugations.
The tentacula were long and pedicled, trifid towards their
extremities, and pinnate, their colour being deep purple.

Mr. Groodsir dissected the species, and found the dental
apparatus to be very large, strong, and of a deep purple.
The teeth consisted of twenty triangular pieces, attached
back to back in pairs, with processes running forward to
the mouth. The retractile muscles of this machinery were
ovate, and attached to the anterior part of the body. To
the circular canal surrounding the oesophagus there were
attached, by narrow necks, three elongated, ventricose,
pointed, transparent vesicles, perfectly free in all direc-
tions. The intestinal canal exactly resembled that figured
in Hunter’s drawing. The respiratory apparatus was
very highly developed, more so than in the drawing
alluded to, extending, when stretched out, four inches.
This tree had no vesicles or cceca attached to its trunk.

HYNDMAN S SEA-CUCUMBER.

225

HOL 0 THU BI A DTE.

PENT A CTM.

HYNDMAINTS SEA-CUCUMBER.

Cucumaria Hyndmanni. Thompson.

Specific Character. — White, five-angled ; skin smooth ; a double close row of
large (non-retractile ?) suckers on each angle ; tentacula ten, sessile, whiter
plumose.

Holothuria Hyndmanni , Thompson, An. Nat. Hist. vol. V. p. 100. (April
1840.)

This very pretty species, two inches in length, was
dredged in Belfast Bay, by Mr. Hyndman of Belfast,
whose natural history researches well entitle him to the
compliment paid by Mr. Thompson in associating this
Holothuria with his name. Besides the characters men-
tioned in the specific diagnosis, Mr. Groodsir found it to
present, when dissected, the following anatomical ap-
pearances.

The dental apparatus consists of ten plates, which are
composed of twenty white chalky triangular pieces ar-
ranged in pairs. The retractile muscles of this apparatus
are short, ovate, and attached posteriorly a little behind
the mouth. The canal surrounding the attachment of
the oesophagus bulges out between each of the ten plates.
To this circle or canal there is attached a sac of a cylin-

Q

226

PENTACTJ2.

drical shape, slightly bulging at the extremity. The in-
testinal canal is of moderate length, and its coats are very
tender. The branchial tree is not very complex, and has
no sacs attached to its trunk. The generative tubes are
comparatively few, not exceeding fifty, and are short and
white. The skin is coriaceous, and the muscular tunic
thin.

When dredging on the west coast of Ireland with Mr.
W. Thompson, Mr. Ball, and Mr. Hyndman, in the sum-
mer of 1840, we took a great number of this handsome
species, many as large as four inches, and all presenting the
external characters described above. It appears to be
rather an apathetic species, and to have scarcely any power
of retracting its suckers ; but this may have been owing to
a circumstance which is of no small interest to both zoolo-
gist and geologist. The Lough of Killery, in which we
found it, is a narrow and long inlet of the sea. To-
wards the upper part of it, whilst the under- water is salt
and full of truly marine animals, the surface-water is so
fresh that our boatmen were used to drink it. The con-
sequence was that in drawing the dredge through the layer
of fresh water the contained animals were paralysed, and
many observations which we had planned to make upon
them were thus unexpectedly defeated.

TANGLE SEA-CUCUMBER.

227

HOLOTHURIADJE.

PENT ACT JE.

TANGLE SEA-CUCUMBER.

Cucumaria fucicola. Forbes and Goodsir.

Specific Character. — Body ovate, rounded, purple, smooth ; tentacula deep
brown, ovate, pinnate, shortly pedunculate ; suckers numerous in each avenue,
alternate.

Holothuria fucicola , Forbes and Goodsir, Athenaeum, No. 618.

This species is not uncommon in Bressay Sound, Shet-
land, where it is found in seven fathoms water, adhering
to the stems of Laminarise. It is about three inches in
length when full grown, and is very smooth. When at
rest with its tentacula, which are short, and somewhat
clavate or sub-globose in form, exserted, it generally as-
sumes an ovate form. It is a sluggish species, and adheres
strongly by means of its suckers, which are closely ar-
ranged in five equidistant rows. Its internal structure
presents no peculiarities. There is but one oesophageal
sac ; the respiratory trees are moderately developed, and
the generative tubes rather numerous. The teeth are
somewhat triangular at their apices.

228

PENT ACT.® .

To this genus also belongs the following species of Dr.
Fleming (if, indeed, it be more than a variety of Cucumaria
pentactes).

“ H. dissimilis. (Fleming, Brit. An. p. 483.)

“ Body pentangular, tapering to both extremities ;
suckers hard, conical ; tentacula of two kinds ; those which
are plumose are shorter than the five simple ones which
are opposed to them.

“ A single specimen of this probably new species, about
two inches in length, was found by Dr. Coldstream on
Leith shore.”

In the same valuable work is the following notice of a
species which seems to be distinct, but is very ambiguously
characterised.

“ If. Neillii. Tentacula ten, with ten subsidiary ones
surrounding the margin of the mouth. — Frith of Forth,
Mr. (now Dr.) Neill.

“ This species, in form and colouring, hears a near
resemblance to the preceding (Holo. Montagui), but it
differs in the exterior tentacula being more subdivided,
and in the number of the anterior ones. These last are
similar in form to the outer ones, though only one-fourth
of their size. This species was brought to Mr. Neill by a
Newhaven fisherman, 3d September 1818. Being' in com-
pany with this intelligent observer of nature at the time,
he kindly presented it to me, and remarked that it was
different from the two species which Professor Jameson,
on his authority, had recorded (Wern. Mem. I. p. 558)
as natives of the Frith of Forth, circumstances which in-
dicated the propriety of its specific appellation. I have
since received a specimen from Cape Wrath through the
kindness of my friend Dr. Coldstream.”

BROWN SEA-GIRK1N.

229

HO LOTH URI ADM.

PENTACTM.

Genus Ocnus. Forbes and Goodsir.

Generic Character. — Body regular, cylindrical, pentagonal, with five rows of
distant suckers on the angles ; tentacula ten ; dental apparatus very short (a
gizzard).

BROWN SEA-GIRKIN.

Ocnus hrunneus. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Colour brown ; tentacula long, pedicled, pinnate.

Holothuria hrunnea , Forbes, MS. Thompson, Annals of Natural History,
No. 29. April 1840.

The animals to wbicli we have applied the name of
Sea-Girkins, differ from the Cucumaria , externally, in the
very few suckers which crown their angles, and, internally,
in haying a strong muscular gizzard. In their motions
they differ also very considerably, not constricting them-
selves, and blowing themselves up as the Sea-Cucumbers
do, but elongating themselves like worms, to which ani-
mals they approximate in their movements. Their suckers
are exceedingly strong, and always exserted, few in num-
ber, and appearing as if ranged in a single line. Two
species, both of which seem to have escaped the observ-
ations of British naturalists till lately, are found in our

230

PENTACTiE.

seas. The* first, that before us, appears to be among the
most abundant and extensively distributed of all the
British Holothuriada. The Ocni are sluggish creatures.

The Brown Sea-Girkin is about three-fourths of an inch
in length, and sometimes longer. It is regularly pen-
tangular, obtuse posteriorly, and truncate anteriorly.
There are about nine large suckers on each of the angles.
The tentacula are very long, and digitate or simply pin-
nate towards their extremities. They are white, as also
the suckers ; but the body is pinkish-brown, with darker
specks, and quite smooth. It lives on shell-banks at
various depths, both on the east and west coasts. At the
mouth of the Frith it frequently comes up on the haddock-
fishers’ lines. In the Frith of Clyde it is common. It
also occurs on the shores of the Isle of Man. Mr. W.
Thompson states that it is the most common species taken
by dredging in the loughs of Strangford and Belfast.

The vignette represents a Runic or Buddhist cross near
Ramsey Bay, Isle of Man.

MILK-WHITE SEA-GIRKIN.

231

HOL 0 THURIAD7E.

PENT ACT M.

MILK-WHITE SEA-GIRKIN.

Ocnus lacteus. Forbes and Goodsir.

Specific Character. — Colour milk-white ; tentacula short, triangular, pinnate.

Holothuria lactea , Forbes and Goodsir, Athenaeum, No. 618.

A second species of Sea-Girkin was found by Mr.
Goodsir and myself in the Sound of Bressay, Shetland,
at the same time with the various Sea-Cucumbers which
we have described from that quarter. The one before us
is a very pretty species. It is small, the largest examples
being not more than three-fourths of an inch in length.
The body is of nearly the same thickness throughout,
cylindrical, and five-angled. On each angle there is a row
of prominent non-retractile suckers. The rows appear
single in consequence of the distances between the alter-
nating suckers, which are from seven to nine in each.
The posterior and anterior extremities seem as if trun-
cated ; the latter bears the tentacula, ten in number, short,
pyramidal, and pinnate. The entire animal is of a white
colour.

Mr. Goodsir and I opened all our specimens of this
animal, save two, without finding any traces of respiratory
organs, and but few of genital. In two specimens, how-

232

PENTACT^E.

ever, the former were seen in the usual position and of the
usual form, but not so much branched as the respiratory
trees in other Sea-Cucumbers. There was but one sac
attached to the oesophagus. The teeth or dental plates
were short, and formed as in the last described. The in-
testine enlarged into a gizzard-like globose stomach just
below the mouth, and was not so complicated in its
rolled-up length and numerous twists, as in the Cucumaria.
The interior of the muscular coat was much smoother, and
the muscles apparently weaker.

The specimens alluded to above were dredged adhering
to muscles. Mr. Goodsir has since found many of them,
brought up on fishermen’s lines off the Fife coast and in
the German Ocean. It has been added to the Fauna of
Ireland, by my friend Mr. W. Thompson of Belfast, who
obtained it on the north-east coast.

Sir John G. Daly ell, who has also found this species,
observes regarding it and other Holothuriadae that when
in confinement the tentacula are usually expanded towards
night. “ When evening comes,” he says, “ a tuft pro-
truding from the larger extremity unfolds into a capacious
funnel, composed of eight, or ten, or twenty beautiful
branches implanted on a shelly cylinder, in the centre of
which is the mouth. Each branch now begins to sweep
the water in succession, and descends almost to the root
within the mouth in a contracted state, whence it arises to
enlarge anew. These evolutions are protracted until the
latest hour ; but as morning dawns the whole apparatus is
withdrawn, the skin becomes close and compact as before,
and a fountain begins to play from the opposite extremity.”
(See Athenaeum, No. 675.)

COMMON THYONE.

233

HOLOTHURIADJE.

TH TONES.

Genus Thy one. Oken.

Generic Character. — Body nearly regular, covered with scattered papillose
suckers ; tentacula ten ; teeth of the dental apparatus long and filiform.

COMMON THYONE.
Thy one papillosa. Muller.

Specific Character. — Body elongate-ovate, brownish white ; tentacula much
pinnate.

Holothuria papillosa, Muller, Zool. Dan. tab. cviii. fig. 3. Jaeger, de Holuth.

Encyc. Meth. pi. lxxxvi. figs. 5, 6. Blainville, Man.
d’Actin. p. 193, pi. xiii. fig. 2.

Mulleria papillosa, Johnston, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. VII. p. 584, fig. 66.
Thyone papillosa, Oken. Agassiz, Prod.

The genus Thyone was constituted by the distinguished
German naturalist and philosopher, Oken, for the reception
of such Holothuria: as have the suckers dispersed over the
whole surface of the body, as in the species before us.
But though the suckers are so scattered, the pentagonal
form and radiated appearance of the animal is not so much
lost as in P solus ; indeed, in many specimens certain of

234

THYONES.

the suckers may be seen arranged regularly as in Cucum-
aria , while in the latter genus we occasionally find ex-
amples of a similar variation in the way of suckers, scat-
tered here and there between the avenues, thus indicating
an approach to Thyone. Some time after Oken had so
named these animals, Dr. Fleming, unaware of the cir-
cumstance, and equally perceiving the necessity of their
generic separation (which was indeed suggested by Cuvier),
constituted the genus under the name of Mulleria , which
name has been since applied by Jaeger to another section
of the tribe.

The species before us was first observed by Muller, who
obtained it from the Faroe Islands. As a native of Bri-
tain it was first noted by Dr. Johnston, who published an
excellent description and figure of this species in the
seventh volume of the Magazine of Natural History. He
found it in Berwick Bay ; it is, however, by no means an
uncommon species on our shores. A few winters past
great numbers were thrown ashore after a violent storm at
Anstruther in Fifeshire, where they were observed by my
friend Mr. Goodsir. I dredged up a small one on the
Scallop-banks oif the Isle of Man in 1838 ; and it has
been taken on the Irish coast by Mr. W. Thompson, in
Belfast Bay and Strangford Loch. In Ireland it also
occurs on the west coast in Killery, and Mr. W. M‘Calla
pointed it out at Boundstone, Cunnemara, living in great
numbers buried in gravelly sand at low water, which cir-
cumstance accounts for the quantity of gravel usually
adhering to it.

The Common Thyone measures from one to nearly three
inches, and is of a brownish-white colour, more or less
dusky, and of an ovate or pear-shape when at rest, though
it can lengthen itself considerably. When the tentacula

COMMON THYONE.

235

are withdrawn it usually appears more bulging on one
side than on the other. The skin is rather tough, and
covered all over with non-retractile suckers, which give it
a papillose appearance. The tentacula are ten in number,
large, and not always equal ; sometimes two of them are
much smaller than the rest, and when such is the case it
is in the habit of moving these two alternately towards
the mouth, while the others are at rest. Many HolotJm-
riadte exhibit this custom. The tentacula are large,
generally whitish, and broadly pinnate. In Dr. John-
ston’s specimens they were brown, with darker dots. The
hinder part of the body tapers, and the vent is stellate.

On opening a number of specimens,
many of them were empty, the animal
having ejected its intestines. A perfect
one presented a well-developed intestine,
moderately branched respiratory trees, one
oesophageal sac, and numerous generative
tubes full of eggs, being then yellow and
much dilated, the eggs of a yellow colour, and not
arranged in any peculiar manner. This specimen was
taken in January; but as several others taken at the same
time presented no appearance of eggs, no inference can be
drawn as to the animal’s breeding season. The teeth were
singular and very peculiar, being much elongated and
filiform, and separated from each other by rows of pen-
tagonal plates. There was but one oesophageal sac. Dr.
Johnston’s had five. One specimen dissected had ejected
all its internal organs, saving the generative tubes ; and in
another there were no traces even of them.

Dr. Johnston gives the following interesting account of
its habits in confinement in the paper alluded to : — “ The
surfaces of the body,” he says, 66 were at first partially

236

THYONES.

covered with fragments of shells and corallines, which were
evidently retained by the suctorial property of the papillae,
and the animal, on being kept a day in sea-water, threw
them off. It had a slow progressive motion ; slower than the
shadow of the dial, which was effected by elongating the
papillae of one part, fixing them to the plate, and then
drawing itself forward by again contracting those elongated
parts ; hut the papillae were oftener used for the purpose
of anchors than of feet, the creature being of an indolent
and immoveable character. When stationary, it was ever
slowly changing its outward form ; it was now shortened
and swollen in the centre ; then it would relax itself and be-
come cylindrical ; again one part would be blown out, and
another drawn in with a deep stricture, as if a thread had
been tied round ; or again the contraction would begin
near the head, which is then made very narrow, and would
spread backward, the anterior portion recovering its ori-
ginal diameter as the wsave of constriction passed away ;
and sometimes the constriction will spread in the opposite
direction. It often raised the posterior extremity a little
from the surface of the plate, and to one side ; but I never
saw any current flow from the aperture. To effect these
varied motions, we must suppose the existence of muscular
bands or fibres on the coriaceous skin, both in a longi-
tudinal and circular direction ; and on opening the body
we find such to be the case : five strong, white, raised
bands run from one end to the other, radiating from the
circular apertures, and numerous fibres pass between them
transversely, among which minute pores open everywhere,
which are the inner orifices of the cuticular papillse.” Dr.
Johnston adds the following account of the voluntary
ejection of its viscera : — “ The worm having been kept in
sea-water, unchanged for two or three days, sickened, and,

COMMON THYONE.

237

by the more frequent involutions and evolutions of its oral
end, evinced its uneasiness. Being left unobserved in this
state for an hour or so, I found on my return that it had
vomited up its tentacula, its oral apparatus, its intestinal
tube entire, and a large cluster of ovaries which lay about
the plate. The muscular convulsion must have been very
great that thus so completely embowelled the creature ;
and yet life was not extinct, for the tentacula contracted
themselves on being touched, and the empty skin appeared
by its motions to have lost little of its irritability.”

Dr. Johnston conjectures the water is conducted into
the body through the tubes, and then floating round the
respiratory filaments is ultimately forced through the canal
that leads to the anus. In all of the species I have
examined, I do not think this possible, the feet resembling
in their structure internally and externally those of the
Starfish and Sea-Urchin. In some works it is stated that
the Echinodermata fill their bodies with water by swallow-
ing it, but the statement is based on no foundation. On
cutting open a distended Cucumaria frondosa, Mr. Groodsir
and I found the water entirely lodged between the sides
and the external coats of the intestinal canal. How it
enters is a problem yet to be solved.

238

THYONES.

II OLOTHURIA D/E.

THYONES.

PORTLOCK’S THYONE.

Thy one PortlocJcii. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Body cylindrical, corrugated, white ; suckers numerous,
large ; tentacula frondose, purple.

The Thy one PortlocJcii is a large species, measuring five
inches in length, and connects by its form and general
aspect the genus Thyone with Cucumaria. The body is
white, and is covered with a strong smooth coriaceous in-
tegument, over which the strong white suckers are some-
what irregularly scattered. On the five angles they are
most numerous and rudely arranged in rows. The ten-
tacula are ten in number, large, frondose, and purple. The
internal structure of the animal presents a large and strong
dental apparatus, numerous genital and respiratory tubes,
and one pyriform sac. This handsome species was kindly
communicated to me by Captain Portlock, to whom I have
dedicated it, and by whom it was discovered in Belfast
Bay, in the course of the Ordnance investigations in the
North of Ireland.

MONTAGU S CHIRODOTA.

239

HOLOTHURJADAE.

SYNAPTJE .

Genus Chirodota. Eschscholtz.

Generic Character . — Body cylindric, vermiform, without suckers ; tentacula
elongate, digitate at their extremities.

MONTAGU’S CHIRODOTA.

Chirodota digitata. Montagu.

Specific Character. — Body vermiform, white, with orange spots ; tentacula
long, peduncled, digitate.

Holothuria digitata, Montagu, Lin. Tr. vol. xi. p. 22, t. iv. fig. 6. Blainville,
Man. d’Actin. p. 194.

Fistularia digitata , Lamarck, 1 Edit. III. p. 76 ; 2 Edit. III. p. 448.
Mulleria digitata, Flem. Brit. Anim. p. 484.

This remarkable animal was discovered by Montagu
on the southern shores of Devonshire. Its discoverer

240

SYNAPTvE.

refers it to the Holotlmria inhcerens of Muller, with a
query ; but it is assuredly distinct from that animal, which
is a Cucumaria , nearly allied to our Cucumaria fusiformis.
As I have never seen living examples of the Chirodota digi-
tata , I think it best to quote in full the description of it
given by the eminent and accurate observer who first
found it.

“ Body long, cylindric, covered with minute papillse of
a yellowish white colour, marked with small spots of red
orange, closely disposed, and in many parts confluent ;
posterior end tinged with green ; tentacula twelve, short,
dividing at their tips into four obtuse branches of a pale
colour ; length, when extended, between three and four
inches.

“ This rare species is capable of great contraction, and
probably multiplies by natural division, as it separates
without violence into an indefinite number of pieces : this
is effected by muscular stricture, which forms ligatures
and separates portions into globular pieces; sometimes
two or three of these ligatures are formed together, and
as many separations ensue, provided the exterior one
first falls off ; otherwise the part separated appears
to continue in that moniliform state. This, however,
may be a forced action from confinement in a glass of
sea-water, and one division at the extremity is the
order Nature most likely pursues. It must, however,
he admitted that our knowledge with respect to these
inhabitants of the deep is extremely limited, since they
can only be examined when taken from their natural
abode ; the form of these creatures is nearly all we may
expect to become acquainted with, for their ceconomy is
concealed from us by that insurmountable barrier which no
philosopher can pass.

MONTAGU S CHIRODOTA.

241

“ The faculty which this animal possesses of separating
into so many parts renders it almost impossible to preserve
a perfect specimen entire.”

It is evident from the above description that this animal
cannot be associated generically with any of the other
British Holothuriadse ; it may be questioned whether it is
not a member of the next order of Echinodermata, where
indeed all the Synaptse might be placed. So accurate an
observer as Montagu would scarcely have passed over the
suckers without mention had they been present. Its cha-
racters, as at present known, associate best with the genus
Chirodota ; and until more specimens be procured, and an
anatomical examination instituted, it must be placed in
that genus, seeing that as yet there are not grounds enough
known for adopting it as a type of a separate genus.

Doubtless there yet remain many undiscovered species
of Holothuriadee in the British seas. Of Starfishes we
must not expect to find many more kinds, though Groni-
aster miliaris, and some few others which have been seen
on the Norwegian shores, may be looked for. Of Sea-
Urchins there are probably still fewer unnoticed ; but of
the Sea-Cucumbers many. Their comparatively unat-
tractive aspect, the difficulty of preserving them (they
must always be kept in spirits), their habitat in the sea,
and the little attention that has hitherto been paid to
them by native zoologists, all lead me to believe that
many species have been passed over. We Jiave as yet no
representative of the typical Holothurise which have twenty
tentacula in the British Fauna. Several of these, such as
the Holothuria elegans, and Holothuria mollis, inhabitants
of the Scandinavian shores, will probably ere long prove
to be natives of our own.

Much yet remains to be done towards a full investiga-

r

242

SYNAPTiE.

tion of the anatomy of the Sea- Cucumbers, more especially
with a view to a comparison of the structure of the Mol-
luscan with the Annelidous forms of Holothuriadse. The
elaborate dissections of Chiagi require to be repeated
before we can put implicit confidence in their accuracy.

There is a point in the economy of these animals, and
also of the Sea-Urchins, to which I would direct attention.
In some specimens, not in all, nor in all the examples
of any one species, we find red globules, variable as to
number and large as to size, floating' in the fluid of the
aquiferous system.

The vignette is a view of St. Andrew’s Castle and 'Bay,
a rich gleaning ground to the naturalist.

243

SIPUNCULIME,

OR VERMIGRADE ECHINODERMATA.

In the animals of which we have now to treat, Ram-
ism sets and Annulism appears. In their external ap-
pearance they are worms, for the likeness they bear to
the Holothurise depends on a correspondence with the ver-
miform, and not the radiated characters of those animals ;
but internally they afford evidence of belonging to the
same great class. They are, in fact, Annelidous Radiata,
the transition between the Radiated and Symmetrical
types of form. They have no rows of suckers ; their bodies
are not divided into a quinary arrangement of lobes or seg-
ments ; their mouths are either not surrounded by ten-
tacula, or their tentacula are no longer regulated by a
definite number. Their motions and habits are those of
worms. Instead of having their skins strengthened by
calcareous spines, such as have prickly appendages have
corneous bristles, nearly resembling those seen in many

R 2

244

SIPUNCULID.E.

Annelides. These characters have induced many great
naturalists to remove them altogether from the Radiata,
and place them among the Annelides. Regarding, how-
ever, structural characters as the main tests of affinity,
and form, adapted to locality, as characteristic of analogical
relations, I cannot agree with their views, and accordingly
include them in this work. At the same time, our know-
ledge of their structure and habits is confessedly small ;
and future discovery will probably throw new and at pre-
sent unanticipated light on their position in the animal
kingdom. The tide of research may wash up new forms,
the want of which to guide us in our comparisons prevents
our proposing the arrangements here given as more than
provisional.

The British species may be grouped under three very
distinct families :

The SipunculacetE, having a retractile proboscis, at the
base of which the vent is placed, and round the extremity
of which is seen a circle of tentacula.

The Priapulace^:, which have also a retractile proboscis,
but no tentacula, and which have the vent at the extremity
of a long filiform caudal appendage.

The Thalassemace>e, which have a proboscis, having a
long fleshy appendage attached. They have no tentacula,
and their vent is placed at the posterior extremity.

Generic characters in the first of these families depend
on the form of the tentacula ; in the last on the presence,
absence, and arrangement of corneous bristles on certain
parts of the body. Of the Priapulacese there is but one
genus known. Specific characters throughout the tribes
appear to depend on variations of the integument and on
proportions of parts. Colour would appear to be of little
or no value, except perhaps in the last family.

ROUGH SYRINX.

245

SIPUNCULIDJE.

SIPUNCULA CEM

Genus Syrinx. Bohadsch.

Generic Character. — Trunk cylindrical, shorter than the body, having a circle
of short digitate tentacula near its extremity.

ROUGH SYRINX.

Syrinx nudus. Linnaeus.

Specific Character. — Body rugose, with deep reticulating striae; posterior ex-
tremity ventricose, smooth, furrowed longitudinally; trunk granulated, except
near the extremity.

Syrinx , Bohadsch, Anim. Mar. p. 93, t. vii. f. 6, 7.

Sipunculus nudus, Linnaeus, 12th Edit. p. 1078. Gmelin, p. 3094.

Pennant, Brit. Zool. vol. IV. p. 36, t. xx. fig. 10.
Fleming, Brit. An. p. 491. Lamarck, 2 Edit'
vol. III. p. 469. Gray, Spicel. Zool. p. 8.
Sipunculus halanaphorus , Della Chiagi, Mem. t. i. pt. II. p. 22, pi. 1.

Syrinx tessellatus , Rafinesque, Precis, p. 82.

The Rough Syrinx, or Tube- worm, as Pennant styles
it, attains the length of from six to eight inches. The

246

SIPUNCULACEJE.

body is cylindrical, and covered with a strong coriaceous
integument, which, being longitudinally furrowed, and
deeply striated transversely, is very rugose, except at the
posterior extremity, which is inflated, smooth, and longi-
tudinally grooved to near its termination The vent is
situated at some distance from the origin of the proboscis,
which is short, not more than one-tenth the length of the
body. It is minutely granulated, saving near its ex-
tremity, which is surrounded by a rim of digitated ten-
tacular filaments, webbed together at their bases. On
opening the specimen I have figured (which was taken by
Mr. Harvey at Teignmouth), I found a somewhat simple
intestine filled with coarse sand. There were two genital
tubes, each lobed into a second smaller one at its base, the
largest lobe being filled with yellowish eggs. What ap-
peared to be respiratory tubes were very large, and at-
tached to the sides by a mesentery.

Pennant notices and figures this animal, but does not
mention a locality ; and I am not sure that his figure
represents the same species : it appears to be derived from
the representation of Bondeletius. The original animal of
Bohadsch is evidently identical, as may be seen from the
copy of Bohadsch’s figure, which I have introduced for
comparison. He says that it is of a whitish yellow colour,
that it never contracts itself into a ball, and that it lives
in the deep sea, whence it is never cast on shore, save
when it enters the nets along with fishes.

RAPILLATED SYRINX.

247

S1PUNCULIDM.

SIPUNCULACEJE.

PAPILLATED SYRINX.

Syrinx papillosus. Thompson.

Specific Character. — Brownish or mottled ; skin striated concentrically, and
covered with brown papillae.

Sipunculus papillosus, Thompson, Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. V. No. 29, p. 101.

(April 1840.)

This handsome species, measuring four inches in length,
and portly in proportion, appears to have escaped descrip-
tion until very lately, when Mr. Thompson had the plea-
sure of introducing it to the public, characterizing it from
specimens obtained at Miltown Malbay, on the coast of
Clare, by Mr. Harvey, and at the south islands of Arran,
Ireland, by Mr. Ball. Captain Portlock has taken many
specimens on the north coast of Ireland ; and its geogra-
phical range would appear to be extensive, as Mr. Gray
showed me a bottle full of specimens in the British
Museum, which came from the West Indies. According
to Mr. Harvey, it lives under stones among sand-covered
rocks. It is of a brownish white colour, often with dark
markings of brown, and has its tough skin finely striated
longitudinally and concentrically, and covered with brown
papillse, which are more numerous on the sides than on the

248

SIPUNCULACEJ3.

dorsal and ventral surfaces, and are most numerous at the
posterior extremity, which tapers to a point. The pro-
boscis (which is retracted in the figure, drawn from a
specimen in spirits) is about one-third the length of the
body, and is provided towards its extremity with a circle
of tentacular filaments, flattened, lanceolate, and jagged, or
digitate at the edges. The vent opens near its back. On
opening the creature we find no dental processes, but a
digestive apparatus, consisting of a narrow oesophagus,
which opens into an intestine twisting spirally on itself to
the posterior extremity of the body, and then returning in
a similar manner along the same spiral to the vent, on each
side of which is a short brown muscular tube, probably
respiratory. The vascular system is complicated, and the
nervous consists of a strong nervous cord, which runs
along the abdominal surface of the animal terminating
posteriorly in numerous filaments, and anteriorly by two
delicate threads which surround the oesophagus where it
joins the base of the proboscis.

The vignette is a view from Leith Roads.

HARVEY S SYRINX.

249

SIPUNCULIDJE.

SIPUNCULACEM.

HARVEY’S SYRINX.

Syrinx Harveii. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Body smooth, except at the posterior extremity and at
the origin of the trunk, where it is finely reticulated ; trunk short, the upper
two-thirds smooth, with the exception of a hand of minute bristles near the ex-
tremity.

Through the kindness of Mr. Waterhouse I am enabled
to give a description and figure of this very distinct species,
discovered by his friend, Mr. Harvey of Teignmouth, who
for some years so successfully investigated the marine fauna
of that interesting locality, and who has since dipped his
dredge in the seas of the Antipodes with equal success.
I have dedicated the species to its discoverer. It measures
two inches and a half in length. The body is quite smooth,
except at the two extremities, where it is finely reticulated.
The skin is tender and very lax, which makes me suspect
that some of the animals described under the name of
Sipunculus saccatus (as that mentioned in “ Martin’s Ma-
rine Worms,”) and supposed to have been the cast skins
of the nudus , may have belonged to this species. The
proboscis is short, in the preserved specimen being only
one-seventh the length of the body, and has a circle of
bristly papillae surrounding it near its extremity. Beyond

250

SIPUNCULACEA3.

these is a circle of tentacula, very numerous, and jagged at
the edges. The internal structure resembles generally that
of the last species, saving that in the specimen examined
I could find no respiratory tubes. The muscles of the
skin are very tender, and are strongest near the anterior
extremity ; those of the trunk, however, are very strong,
and bifurcated at their bases. There is a genital tube
opening opposite the vent. The animal is of a pinkish
colour.

The pencil of my friend, Mr. G. J. Bell, has furnished
the accompanying sketch of one of the dredger’s worst
enemies, a squall. The scene is the Holy Loch in the
Clyde district ; a province which, thanks to Mr. Smith,
has contributed many rarities to the British Fauna.

SHELL-BEARING SIPUNCULUS.

251

SIPUNCULIDJE.

SIPUNCULACEJE.

Genus Sipunculus. Linnseus.

Generic Character. — Trunk cylindrical, long, having a circle of simple linear
tentacula near its extremity.

SHELL-BEARING SIPUNCULUS.

Sipunculus Bernhardus. Forbes.

Specific Character. — Body smooth anteriorly, studded with small bristles
towards its obtuse posterior extremity ; trunk long, smooth, saving near the
extremity, where it is surrounded by four rows of minute bristles.

Sipunculus Stromhi, Montagu, Lin. Trans. VII. p. 74. Fleming, Brit. An.

p. 491. Gray, Spicel. Zool. 8.

B. Sipunculus Dentalii , Gray, Spicel. Zool. 8.

The form of the tentacula and the general habit of the
animals, distinguish the genus Sipunculus from Syrinx.

252

SIPUNCULACEiE.

The species bury in sand, or in the crevices of rocks, or,
as is the custom of the curious animal before us, adopt the
shells of dead univalve testacea for a house and home, after
the manner of the Hermit Crab. The Sipunculus would
appear, however, to be of a less changeable disposition of
mind and body than its crustacean analogue, and when
once securely housed in a shell to make that its permanent
habitation. Whether the egg is originally deposited in the
future habitation of the animal by some wonderful instinct,
or is only developed when lodged by the waters in such a
locality, or whether the parent Sipunculus bequeaths the
chosen lodging of its caudal termination to its eldest born,
and so on from generation to generation, a veritable entailed
property, we know not at present ; but the inquiry is a
most interesting one, and well worth the attention of the
experimental zoologist. The Sipunculus is not, however,
content with the habitation built for it by its Molluscan
predecessor ; it exercises its own architectural ingenuity,
and secures the entrance of its shell by a plaster-work of
sand, leaving a round hole in the centre sufficiently large
to admit of the protrusion of its trunk, which it sends out
to a great length, and moves about in all directions with
great facility. This trunk is long and cylindrical, and
slightly enlarged at its extremity, where it is surrounded
by about twenty or more linear-lanceolate tentacula, which
are very seldom protruded. Behind these tentacula are
four circles of minute bristles. The trunk can be entirely
retracted within the body. In the lowermost figure I have
represented the Sipunculus alive in a Periwinkle shell, of
which I have broken away the upper part in order to show
the animaFs body ; the figure immediately above represents
the creature freed from the shell, but with the trunk
retracted ; and the two uppermost represent the animal

SHELL-BEARING SIPUNCULUS.

253

with all its parts expanded, as seen after preservation in
spirits, and the head magnified under the same circum-
stances. Near the junction of the trunk with the body is
seen the vent ; the body itself is smooth, with the excep-
tion of the posterior portion, where there are minute bristles
arranged at regular distances. The colour of the creature
is white, and it can extend itself to more than three inches
in length. The internal structure of the animal is not so
complicated as that of a Syrinx, and the digestive system
is much more simple.

The shells selected by this Sipunculus for its habitation
are usually specimens of the Strombus Pes-Pelicanus, and
Turritella Terehra ; but I have also seen it in Littorina
littorea, when that shell happened to fall into sufficiently
deep water, and Dentalius Entalis is frequently adopted
by it. The parasite of the last named shell Mr. Gray
considers a distinct species, and has published it as such ;
but after examining many both living and dead, I am
reluctantly obliged to differ from that distinguished zoolo-
gist’s opinion, and to regard the characters he has given as
dependent on accidental causes ; namely, the contraction
of specimens preserved in spirits, and the form of the shell
in which they were parasitical.

The Sipunculus Bernhardus (I have thought proper so
to style it, in order to prevent the confusion arising’ from
naming it after the shell which it inhabits) is found on
most parts of the British coast. On the east, west, and
north of Scotland it is frequent ; on the coast of Ireland
not uncommon, and on the west and south coast of Eng-
land by no means rare. It lives in from ten to thirty
fathoms water.

254

SIPUNCULACE^E.

SIP UNCULID7E. SIP UN CTJL ACE IE.

JOHNSTON'S SIPUNCULUS.

Sipunculus Johnstoni. Forbes.

Specific Character . — Body rough, with minute papillae ; posterior extremity
tapering to a point ; trunk smooth, nearly half the length of the body.

This little species is one of the many discoveries of my
valued friend, Dr. Johnston, who found it at Berwick,
and to the pencil of his accomplished lady I am indebted
for the figure of it. He writes me regarding it, — “ It is
not uncommon sometimes at the roots of corallines, lurk-
ing in the sand, the colour of which it resembles. It is
rarely, I should think, half an inch long, contracts and
lengthens itself, as is usual with the tribe, draws in the
anterior end, and extends it as a snail doth its horns, and
when it is fully extended there is an appearance of two
minute papillae at the orifice.”

Pallas, in his Miscellanea Zoologica, tab. x. figs. 7, 8, 9,
has figured two English Sipuncular worms, which nearly
approach the Sipunculus Johnstoni. The one he says
he found among sand on the coast of Sussex in the year
1762 ; the other he states is black, smooth, and capable

JOHNSTON S SIPUNCULUS.

255

of changing its body into many shapes. The notices are
too imperfect to enable us to judge with certainty of the
species; but I subjoin copies of the figures in the hopes
of their leading to the rediscovery of the animals noticed
by that most accurate observer. It is very probable that
several other minute Sipunculi inhabit the British seas.
Those of other regions have been still less attended to.

256

PKIAPULACE/E.

SIP UNCULIDM. PR1APULACEJE.

Grenus Priapulus. Lamarck.

Generic Character. — Body cylindrical, having a trunk without tentacula, and
a branched filamental caudal appendage, proceeding from the truncate posterior
extremity.

THE TAILED PRIAPULUS.

Priapulus caudatus. Lam.

Specific Character. — Body finely striated longitudinally and transversely by
distant striae ; trunk striated longitudinally.

Holothuria priapus, Lin. Syst. 1091. Fabricius, Fauna Groen. 355. Muller,
Zool. Dan. Prod. 2807 ; Zool. Dan. t. xcvi. 1, and t.
cxxxv. 2.

Priapulus caudatus , Lam. 2 Edit. III. p. 467. Fleming, Brit. An. p. 491.

TAILED PRIAPULUS.

257

The Priapulus is one of the most curious animals in-
habiting the British seas. It is shaped like a dice-box,
with a curious pyramidal filamentous tail at one end, and
an equally curious sub-conical trunk at the other. When
dredged up it presents little appearance of its tail, and still
less of its trunk ; but if left undisturbed for a few moments
the shapeless lump of white flesh, for such it seems to be,
becomes suddenly animated, and with a fierce energy
assumes its true form, and jerks out its cartilaginous pro-
boscis to its full proportions, changing in a moment its
size from half an inch to as many as four or five inches.
Then it will as suddenly withdraw its trunk within its
body, the puzzle to the spectator being as to where it con-
trives to pack it, especially as on anatomical examination
we find a fair supply of digestive, circulating, and other
apparatus already stowed inside. It is of a bluish-white
or pinkish colour, the body being finely striated longi-
tudinally with distant strise, which are crossed by others,
hut the reticulations are not so evident about the centre.
The proboscis, which swells out towards its extremity, is
striated only in one direction, namely, longitudinally.
The body is truncate posteriorly, and shaped like the
mouth of a trumpet, out of which comes the long white
pyramidal tail, composed of a number of hollow filiform
processes, whirled round a common axis, each circle di-
minishing in size towards the extremity. We find the
anus opening at the extremity of this remarkable appen-
dage, which Sars regards as an organ of respiration. A
microscopic examination of this singular appendage in the
living animal is most desirable, as it possibly may be
furnished with some singular ciliary apparatus. The
intestinal canal is simple, and on the abdominal surface a
white line is seen running along the centre, which is com-
posed of vessels and nerves.

258

PRIAPULACEiE.

The Priapulus was first observed on the British shores
by Dr. Fleming, who found it in the Zetland seas in 1810,
and his specimen was no less than six inches long. Mr.
Goodsir and I found it in the same locality in 1839 ; we
dredged it in seven fathoms water, among Laminarise, in
the Sound of Bressay, opposite Lerwick. Our specimen
was three inches and a half in length. Dr. Coldstream
has taken it in two localities very distant from each other,
namely, Leith, and the coast of Devon. Captain Portlock
has added it to the Irish fauna ; he dredged it in Belfast
Bay. Abroad it inhabits the seas of Norway and of
Greenland.

The vignette represents the entrance to the Kyles of
Bute.

GAERTNER S SPOON- WORM.

259

SIP U N CU LIDJE,

THALASSEMA CEJE.

Genus Thalassema . Cuvier.

Generic Character. — Body cylindrical, posterior extremity smooth ; proboscis
retractile, short, without tentacula, and furnished at one side with a long fleshy
furrowed simple sheath or appendage, which is not retractile.

GAERTNER’S SPOON- WORM.

Thalassema Neptuni. Gaer trier.

Specific Character. — Body purplish anteriorly, gray posteriorly; appendage
saffron.

Lumbricus Thalassema , Pallas, Spicel. Zool. fasc. x. p. 8, t. i. f. 6. Gmelin,
Syst. p. 3084.

Thalassema rupium , Lamarck, Syst. (1801) p. 329.

Tlialassina mutatoria , Montagu, Lin. Trans, vol. XI. p. 24, t. v. f. 2.

Among the many contributions sent from England by
Gaertner to Pallas was the singular worm-like Echinoderm
before us. Its sagacious discoverer evidently saw the neces-
sity of constituting a genus for its reception ; and though
he does not appear to have defined it, he gave the name

260

THALASSEMACEJE.

by which the creature is here designated. Cuvier and
Montagu followed up the views indicated by Gaertner,
and to the great zoologist of Devon is due the credit of
first perceiving the true relations of the Thalassemaceae ;
for, speaking of this worm, he says, “ I think it might
with propriety immediately precede Holothuria.” Cuvier
afterwards held the same view of its position, and Brandt
has followed him. Lamarck, Blainville, and others, asso-
ciated the Spoon-worms with the true Annelida. After
having studied both the British species, in conjunction
with Mr. Goodsir, both zoologically and anatomically, and
observed one of them under most favourable circum-
stances alive, I hold them to be structurally Radiata,
and their relation with the worms to be a relation of
analogy.

Montagu considered Gaertner’s animal, as figured by
Pallas, to be identical with his own, but badly represented.
The figure given by Pallas, however, is not a bad one, but
very characteristic of the creature when preserved in spirits,
as may be seen on comparing it with my drawing, which
I made from a preserved specimen taken by Mr. Harvey
at Teignmouth, kindly communicated by Mr. Waterhouse.
As Montagu observed the creature alive, I prefer giving
his account of it, and then adding what information I have
gathered additional from an examination of the dead ani-
mal. He tells us it is “ ovate-oblong in a quiescent state,
and rather more than half an inch in length, but sometimes
extends to more than an inch, and then changes its form
by alternately inflating each end. It is furnished with
annulations, which become ridged at the posterior end,
where it terminates in a point or nipple ; it has also longi-
tudinal striae that decussate the annulations, giving it a
squamous appearance. At the anterior end the margin of

GAERTNER S SPOON- WORM.

261

the aperture extends into a very long amorphous appen-
dage, frequently three or four times the length of the body,
at other times contracted very short, but never receding
within the mouth : in the former state it is usually flat,
in the latter the sides fold together and almost form a
tube, becoming much scalloped or wrinkled at the margin,
and at the base the sides unite forming a sort of funnel to
the mouth; by this implement not only nourishment is
collected but its only progressive motion is performed. It
is in continual action, thrown about in all directions in
search of food, and occasionally by fastening it to a distant
body the animal is drawn forward or turned to either side.
At the anterior end immediately behind the long appen-
dage are two very minute feelers, which are not always
protruded. The posterior half of the body is of a bluish
gray, the other purplish pink ; the appendage saffron, paler
at the extremity. This curious animal was kept alive in
sea-water several days for examination, and was never ob-
served to take in or eject that element like the Holothuria
tribe, but at the posterior end is an evident opening for the
discharge of the faeces.”

In this characteristic description of Montagu no men-
tion is made of a trunk ; but in both this animal and the
next there is a retractile proboscis resembling that of a
Sipunculus, but unprovided with tentacula at the extre-
mity. The singular spoon-shaped appendage of the mouth
would seem to be a sheath for the proboscis, and a means
of bringing the food of the creature within its reach. The
internal anatomy nearly resembles that of the Echiurus,
but the intestinal canal is not so long.

Hitherto this animal has been found only on the coasts
of Devon and Cornwall. Gaertner and Montagu describe
it as living among submarine rocks.

262

THALASSEMACEJ3.

The vignette is a copy of Montagu’s figure. Any one
who has seen the extraordinary changes of form presented
by animals of this tribe when alive, will not he surprised
at the difference between it and my drawing.

COMMON SPOON-WORM.

263

Genus Echiurus. Cuvier.

Generic Character. — Body cylindrical, posterior extremity with circles of corne-
ous bristles ; proboscis retractile, short, and furnished at one side with a long-
fleshy furrowed simple non-retractile appendage.

COMMON SPOON-WORM.

Echiurus vulgaris. Savigny.

Specific Character. — Body pink, ringed with minute pale granular spots ; ap-
pendage scarlet.

Lumbricus echiurus , Pallas, Spicel. Zool. f. 10, t. i. fig. 1-5.

Lumbricus oxyurus , Pallas, Miscel. Zool. p. 146, t. xi. fig. 1-6.

Thalassema echiurus , Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert. 1 Edit. vol. V. p. 300 ;

2 Edit. vol. V. p. 533. Blainville, Diet, des Sc.
Nat, t. lvii. p. 499.

Thalassema aquatica , Leach, Enc. Brit. Sup. t. i. p. 451.

Thalassema vulgaris , Savigny, Syst, des Anim. sans Vert. p. 102.

One day during the winter of 1840, when walking on
the sandy shore at St. Andrew’s, seeking for such living
treasures as the sea might have thrown up after a terrific
storm, I found among a profusion of Heart-Urchins, Rasor-

264

THALASSEMACE.E.

fish, Zoophytes, and other dwellers in the deep, a number
of the curious worms I am about to describe. They were
twisting about on the wet sand with many symptoms or
discomfort, and near them lay as many curious fleshy red
bodies, which seemed alive, and to be independent animals.
They were not so, however, but were the broken-off appen-
dages or sheaths to the creature’s proboscis, by means of
which probably the Spoon-worm makes its way through
the sand in which it lives, or perhaps folding- it into a
funnel, thereby secures a supply of water when buried
deep beneath the surface. From the marrow-spoon shape
of the sheaths I have given the worms an English appel-
lation.

The Echiurus was first described by Pallas, and his
account has furnished the materials for all the descriptions
published since his time. He obtained it from the coast
of Belgium, where he says it lives buried in the sand, and
is used as a bait by the fishermen.

The largest specimens I examined measured six inches
in length, and half an inch in diameter. Their bodies were
cylindrical, of a bright rose colour, and annulated with
little tubercles, which were paler than the ground colour.
The oral end is furnished with a proboscis about half an
inch in length, having a red margin at its extremity, but
no tentacula. This proboscis is retractile, hut not so the
singular long extensile homogeneous sheath or spoon of a
scarlet colour fixed on one side its base. This appendage
is so slightly fixed that it breaks away on the slightest touch.
A little way from its junction with the body are two
shining lustrous cartilaginous horns or antennae, short,
lanceolate, acuminate, curved, and retractile, their colour
being golden yellow. These are the genital hooks. From
between these proceeded a red line, indicating the course

COMMON SPOON- WORM.

265

of an internal blood-vessel to the anus, which is placed at
the posterior extremity, and surrounded by two circles of
ten similar but shorter bristles. The skin near the vent is
longitudinally striated.

On dissection we find a long and winding' intestine of a
brownish hue. There is a dorsal vessel running the length
of the animal, containing red blood, the globules of which
are large and irregular in form. The bristles near the head
are retracted by powerful muscles. Near them open four
genital sacs, two on each side. In these were detected
spermatic animalcules. These sacs are transparent, and
tipped with orange. On each side of the anus are two
tubular sacs, each about three-fourths of an inch in length.
These are the organs of respiration. When a portion of
one of them is placed under the microscope alive in sea-
water, a most beautiful organization is presented. They
are seen to be studded with cup-shaped bodies, like polypes
in form, round the margin of each of which is a circle of
vibratory cilia, so large that they may be easily seen with
a common lens of three-fourths of an inch focus. On the
internal surface of the respiratory sacs instead of cups there
are little tubercles corresponding to the cups, and covered
like them with vibratile cilia, the whole forming one of the
most beautiful arrangements of those singular organs seen in
the animal kingdom. This arrangement has, as far as I
am aware, not been noticed hitherto. It is represented in
the vignette.

The Spoon- worms were continually changing form, filling
themselves with water, perhaps through the medium of the
respiratory tubes. When supplied with fresh water they
would swim in a revolving manner like a worm with great
vivacity, and afterwards rest at the bottom of the vessel
and swell themselves out.

266

THALASSEMACEyE.

With this notice of an
animal in which the cha-
racteristic features of the
Radiate type are almost
obliterated, I conclude my
account of the British Echi-
nodermata. Among them
we have seen some of the
most extraordinary forms in
the animal kingdom, some
of the most wonderful struc-
tures and of the strangest
habits. Much yet remains
to be done towards their elucidation, and the investigation
of them both structurally and formally presents a wide field
of inquiry to the student of Nature, as yet but imperfectly
explored. The great naturalist of Denmark, Muller, long
ago said that we need not resort to distant regions and
foreign climes for rare or wonderful creatures ; that the
fields, the woods, the streams, and the seas of our native
lands abounded in wondrous evidences of God’s power
and wisdom. The investigation of our native animals
must ever be a chief source of sound zoological know-
ledge, for it is there only we can watch, under favourable
circumstances, for the observation of their developement,
their habits, and their characters. The naturalist whose
acquaintance is confined to preserved specimens in a cabi-
net, can form but a vague idea of the glorious variety of
Nature, of the wisdom displayed in the building up of the
atoms of matter to be the houses of life and intellect.
And unless we study the creatures living around us, how
can we gain that delightful knowledge ? The passing note
of an animal observed during travel is an addition to

COMMON SPOON- WORM.

267

science not to be scorned ; the briefly characterizing of
a new species from a preserved specimen, if done with
judgment, is of importance ; but the real progress of
natural history must ever depend on the detailed ex-
amination of the beings gathered around us by the laws
of geographical distribution, living and multiplying in their
destined homes and habitats.

LATIN INDEX.

Amphidotus cordatus

roseus

Asteriadae
Asterias aurantiaca
Asterina gibbosa
Astrophyton scutatum .

Brissus lyrifer

Chirodota digitata
Cidaris papillata
Comatula rosacea
Cribella oculata

rosea

Crinoideae
Cucumaria frondosa

communis

■ • Drummondii

fucicola .

fusiformis

hyalina .

Hyndmanni

pentactes

Echinarachnius. placenta
Ecbinidae

Ecbinocyamus pusillus
Echinus Flemingii .

lividus

miliaris

neglectus

• sphaera

Echiurus vulgaris

Goniaster equestris
Templetoni

Holothuriadae

Luidia fragillissima

Page

Ocnus brunneus

229

lacteus

231

Ophiocoma Ballii

35

bellis

53

brachiata

45

filiformis

40

Goodsiri

57

granulata ;

50

minuta .

65

neglecta

30

punctata

37

rosula

60

Ophiura texturata

22

albida

27

Ophiuridae

19

Palmipes membranaceus

116

Priapulus caudatus

256

Psolinus brevis

207

P solus phantapus

203

Sipunculidae

243

Sipunculus Bernhardus

251

Johnstoni

254

Spatangus purpureus

182

Solaster endeca .

109

papposa

112

Syrinx Harveii .

249

nudus

245

papillosus

247

Thalassema Neptuni

259

Thyone papillosa .

233

Portlockii .

238

Uraster glacialis .

78

hispida

95

rubens

83

violacea

91

Page

190

194

71

130

119

67

187

239

146

5

100

106

1

209

217

223

227

219

221

225

213

178

141

175

164

167

161

172

149

263

125

122

197

135

ENGLISH INDEX

Page

Page

Angular Sea- Cucumber

•

213

Knotty Cushion-star

125

Ball’s Brittle-star

.

35

Lesser Sand-star

27

Bird’s-foot Sea-star

116

Lingthorn .

135

Brown Sea-Girkin

.

229

Little Crossfish

95

Butthorn

130

Long-armed Brittle-star

45

Long Sea-Cucumber

219

Cake-Urchin

178

Cirrhigrade Echinodermata

71

Mermaid’s Head

190

Cirrho-spinigrade Echinodermata

141

Milk-white Sea-Girkin

231

Cirrho-vermigrade Echinodermata

197

Montagu’s Chirodota .

239

Common Brittle-star

60

Crossfish

83

Papillated Syrinx

247

Egg- Urchin

149

Pinnigrade Echinodermata

1

Heart- Urchin

190

Piper ....

146

Sand- star

22

Purple Egg-Urchin

167

Sea- Cucumber

217

Heart-Urchin

182

Spoon-worm .

.

263

Sun- star

109

■ Sun-star

112

tipped Egg-Urchin

161

Thyone

233

Rosy Cribella

106

Daisy Brittle-star

53

Feather-star

5

Dotted

.

37

Heart-Urchin

194

Drummond’s Sea-Cucumber

223

Rough Syrinx

245

Eyed Cribella

m

100

Sand Brittle- star .

65

Sca'ad Man’s-head .

149

Fiddle Heart-Urchin

187

Sea-egg

ib.

Fleming’s Egg-Urchin

.

164

Shell-bearing Sipunculus .

251

Shetland Argus .

67

Gaertner’s Spoon-worm .

259

Short Psolinus

207

Gibbous Starlet

119

Silky-spined Egg-Urchin

172

Glassy Sea-Cucumber

221

Snail Sea-Cucumber

203

Goodsir’s Brittle-star .

57

Spinigrade Echinodermata

19

Granulated

50

Spiny Crossfish

78

Gray .

30

Great Sea-Cucumber

209

Tailed Priapulus

256

Green Pea-Urchin

175

Tangle

227

Templeton’s Cushion-star .

122

Harvey’s Syrinx

249

Thread-rayed Brittle-star

40

Hyndman’s Sea- Cucumber

225

Violet Crossfish

91

Johnston’s Sipunculus

•

254

Vermigrade Echinodermata

243

ERRATA.

Page 29, line 14, for 66 valuable” read “ variable.”

„ 46, ,, 15, for “ was ” read “ were.”

„ 50, 60, and 79, among synonyms, for “ Metr.” read “ Meth.”

„ 70, line 6, for “ oval ” read M oral.”

,, 73, last line, for “ Micheli ” read “ Meckel.”

,, 106, add to synonyms of “ Cribella rosea ” “ Linkia rosea , Thompson,
An. Nat. Hist. No.xxxi. June, 1840.

„ 224, line 2, /or “ two” read “ ten.”

LONDON :

PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,

Bangor House, Shoe Lane.

RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST

IN

FOREIGN LANDS.

BY EDWARD FORBES, M.W. S. For. Sec. B. S. etc.

Although founded on a series of Natural History Ex-
cursions and Studies in Scandinavia, France, Germany,
Switzerland, Illyria, and the North of Africa, this Volume
is not intended to be a mere book of Travels. It is written
with the view of recording the impressions of a British
Naturalist when amongst foreign scenes, the comparison of
the aspect and productions of his own with those of other
countries, and the philosophical speculations which such
comparisons originate. The wanderings of the Student
will not, however, be altogether cast aside, nor the story of
adventure be passed over untold. Naturalizing is an ex-
citing pursuit, and not always easy journeying ; the objects
of the Zoologist, the Botanist, and the Geologist leading
them out of the trodden paths of travel. Accidental par-
ticipation in Natural History excursions has converted
many an idler into a man of science. In the hope of
adding to the number of such beneficial conversions, and of
tempting closet philosophers out of their hiding-places
into the fields, these records of the tramps of a Student
in search of science are sent forth, ornamented with occa-
sional sketches of the scenery and objects of his rambles.

ILLUSTRATED WORKS

PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION.

A HISTORY OF BRITISH FOREST TREES, by P. J. Selby, F.R.S.E.

THE HERALDRY OF FISH, by Thomas Moule,

A MANUAL OF BRITISH SEA-WEED, by the Hon. W. H. Harvey.

A GRAMMAR OF ENTOMOLOGY, by Edward Newman, F.L.S. a New
Edition, almost entirely re-written.

A HISTORY OF BRITISH CRUSTACEA, by Thomas Bell, F.R.S.

A HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MADEIRA, by the Rev. R. T. Lowe.

DOCUMENTS CONNECTED WITH THE HISTORY OF LUDLOW,
AND THE LORDS MARCHERS, edited by the Hon. R. H. Clive.

A WINTER AT THE AZORES, AND A SUMMER AT THE BATHS
OF THE FURNAS, by Joseph Bullar, M.D., and Henry Bullar of
Lincoln’s Inn.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF ARTS AND MANUFACTURES, by Arthur
Aikin, F.L.S.

THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD, with Thirty-two Designs, by William
Mulready, R.A.

ELEMENTS OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE, a New Edition.

MR. YARRELL’S HISTORY OF BRITISH FISHES, a New Edition.

JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW.