THE WEST INDIAN FAUNA. 5 



which forty-six were undescribed. As the total number of spe- 

 cies does not exceed five hundred, the value of these additions 

 to the group is readily estimated. Prior to the explorations of 

 the " Blake," twenty-seven species had been described from the 

 Caribbean region, so that the number of the species character- 

 istic of the district has been nearly trebled ; plainly showing 

 that the deep-water starfish fauna is far richer and more varied 

 than that of the littoral district. 



The collection of ophiurans is perhaps the largest ever made. 

 They seem to play a very important part in determining the 

 facies of a fauna. They occur everywhere, at all depths, and 

 often in countless numbers. I hardly think we made a single 

 haul which did not contain an ophiuran. They often came up 

 when the trawl brought nothing else. In some places the bot- 

 tom must have been paved with them, just as the shallows are 

 sometimes paved with starfishes and sea-urchins, and many spe- 

 cies hitherto considered as extremely rare have been found to be 

 really abundant. Most of the deep-sea Atlantic species obtained 

 by the " Challenger " have been rediscovered in large numbers. 

 Such rare species as Sigsbeia murrhina, Opliiozona nivea, 

 Hemieuryale pustulata, and Ophiocamax hystrix, were found 

 in plenty. As representatives of northern seas may be cited 

 Astronyx Loveni, while the great rarities are represented by 

 a single specimen of Ophiophyllum. Of Astrocnida isidis, 

 of which only three specimens were known, we have half a 

 dozen. A large Pectinura recalls the shallow fauna of the 

 East Indies, while a new Ophiernus brings to mind the antarctic 

 deep-sea forms. Finally, the supposed existence of simple 

 armed Astrophytons is fully confirmed by the various species of 

 Astroschema, and by a new species of Ophiocreas. 



The diligent search of Pourtales in the Straits of Florida, the 

 " Hassler " expedition, the " Challenger " explorations, and the 

 expeditions of the " Blake," have evidently brought up the 

 majority of the species of ophiurans ; for in the enormous mass 

 of specimens gathered in the last " Blake" expedition and by 

 the " Albatross " the number of new species was small. 



It is noteworthy that the explorations of the " Blake " and the 

 subsequent dredgings of the "Albatross " only added one species 



