8O CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 



The form occurring north of Florida is now usually consid- 

 ered a distinct variety, olivacea. 



This ophiuran occurs at numerous localities in Long Island 

 Sound, living in water but a few feet deep at low tide, and is 

 partial to protected situations and tide pools. It is often abun- 

 dant on sandy shores among the roots of eelgrass. In such 

 places the bottom is often covered with a mass of dead grasses 

 and algae, and forms the home of numerous other small animals, 

 such as worms, mollusks, and crustaceans. Here the ophiuran 

 hides during the daytime and is seldom seen unless disturbed. 

 The snake-like movements of the arms may then attract atten- 

 tion, but the color of the animal when resting agrees most 

 closely with that of the surrounding objects, and the appearance 

 of the arms is quite similar to that of fragments of the stems 

 of the eelgrass. 



The color is commonly greenish or brownish but is some- 

 times nearly black. Olive-green individuals are perhaps the 

 most common. The disk is often mottled and the arms banded 

 with light and darker shades, but the colors are always dull and 

 inconspicuous. 



The disk is usually 10 to 15 mm. in diameter, and the arms 

 40 to 60 mm. in length. The arms are rounded and moderately 

 slender, as indicated on Plates I and XV. Each segment of the 

 arm has seven or eight short spines on each side, and these lie 

 closely appressed to the arm, so that they are quite inconspicuous, 

 as shown on Plates XIV and XV. 



A most interesting account of the habits and development of 

 this species has been published by Grave.* 



Ophiopholis aculeata (Linnaeus) 



Daisy Brittle Star 

 Plates XII, XIII, XVI. 



This is without question the most beautiful and most con- 

 spicuous of all our native ophiurans, but unfortunately it is but 

 rarely found in Connecticut waters, and there occurs only in the 

 deeper areas toward the eastern portion of Long Island Sound. 

 North of Cape Cod the species is very abundant and is there 



* Ophiura brevispina. Mem. Nat. Acad. Sciences, vol. viii. 1899. 



