MONTACUT 8 CIIIHODOTA. 



241 



" The faculty which this animal possesses of separating 

 into so many parts renders it almost impossible to preserve 

 a perfect specimen entire. 1 ' 



It is evident from the above description that this animal 

 cannot be associated generically with any of the other 

 British Holothuriadre ; it may be questioned whether it is 

 not a member of the next order of Echinodermata, where 

 indeed all the Synaptec 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 Goni- 

 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 have 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 



