ii 
84 Mr. Montagu's Description of Marine Animals 
Nereis octentaculata. 
Body depressed, red, with two long, and six short, red setace- 
ous tentacular eyes four, one pair placed behind the other: along 
the back a purple line, with a yellow spot at each joint : seg- 
ments between eighty and ninety, with as many peduncles and 
fasciculi on each side. 
Length, three inches ; breadth, rather more than one eighth of 
an inch, but less at the posterior end. 
Found with the preceding, and equally rare, 
ASTERIAS BRACHIATA. 
Body roundish, or sub-pentangular, 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 hundred 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 bisulcated 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^ 
purplish brown, and sometimes blueish 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 six- 
teen inches, or four feet in circumference. One in my cabinet, 
- whose 
