Ophiura neglecta. 467 



42. Ophiu'ra negle'cta. {Jig. 42.) 



Spec. Char, — Body dorsally imbricated with smooth nearly 

 equal scales ; a large somewhat heart-shaped scale over the 

 base of each ray. 



Hab. — Between tide-marks in Berwick Bay ; not rare. 

 Description, — Body circular, flat, margined, covered with 

 imbricate smooth nearly equal scales ; at the base of each ray 



a large scale divided down the 

 middle by a plain suture. Rays 5, 

 tapered, covered dorsally with a 

 single row of quadrangular scales, 

 and armed on the sides with blunt 

 smooth spines about equal in length 

 to the breadth of the rav, and 

 three or four in a transverse line 



Ophifcra neglecta. Qn each gide of eyery art i cu l a tion. 



Breadth of the body, 3 lines ; length of a ray, 9 lines. The 

 colour in general is greyish, the outer edge of the large scales 

 white, as are also the lateral spines. 



This appears to have been confounded with the preceding, 

 from which it is very distinct,* more particularly in the follow- 

 ing characters. In O. bracteata the rays are level and conti- 

 nuous with the back ; in O. neglecta they are inserted below, 

 so that the margin of the body is continued round uninter- 

 ruptedly : in the former the scales at the base of the rays are 

 distinctly separate, and placed at the sides ; in the latter they 

 are so close as to appear one, and placed precisely above the 

 base : in O. bracteata the scales of the rays are transverse, 

 and the lateral spines very short ; in O. neglecta they are 

 quadrangular, and the spines are proportionably longer. 



Berwick-upon-Tweed, April 1. 1835. 



Art. V. Short Communications. 



Crustaceous Animals. — The Spider Crab seen in a State 

 of Ecdysis or Moulting. — A few days since, a spider crab was 

 sent, alive, to me, taken in the act of changing its coat. The 

 operation was singular. The upper and lower shell being 

 parted, the legs were withdrawn from their old cases, and 

 served as a lever to detach the under shell from the upper. 

 Some exertion of the legs was necessary to raise the upper 

 shell : this had been accomplished, but it was not entirely 

 detached from the body when brought to me. The body was 

 quite soft, and the new skin of about the consistence of parch- 



k k 2 



