68 EURYALES. 



Aslerias caput-Medusce, Linn^us, Syst. 1101. Muller, Zool. Dan. Prod. 



2844. Turton, Brit. Fauna, 149. 

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

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

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



The Euryales connect the Ophiurse with the Crinoidese, 

 to which they hear 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, OpMocoma ; 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 MedusaVhead Star- 

 fish in a herring-net at Dunbar.' 1 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 



