ECHINODERMS (OTHER THAN HOLOTHURIANS) OF THE GULF OF MEXICO 



By Austin H. Clark, U. S. National Museum 



The first definite record of an echinoderm from 

 the Gulf of Mexico was published in 1758 when 

 Albertus Seba described and figured Stella marina 

 polyadis sen Luna marina (Nemaster grandis) 

 from New Spain, presumably the eastern coast of 

 Mexico. From time to time scattered notices of 

 other species appeared, mostly from Mexico. 



In 1867 investigation of the sea bottom in deep 

 water was undertaken by the United States Coast 

 Survey in the steamer Corwin under the direction 

 of Count L. F. de Pourtales. Four dredge hauls 

 were made in from 96 to 350 fathoms off the 

 Florida Keys and northern Cuba. In 1869 the 

 U. S. C. S. S. Bihb made a number of deep hauls 

 about the Florida Keys and off northern Cuba. 

 In 1872 the Bihh dredged in from 17 to 1,164 

 fathoms in the Yucatan Channel and on the 

 Yucatan Bank, with a few hauls among the Flor- 

 ida Keys, and in the same year the Blake made 

 many dredge hauls about the Keys and off the 

 west coast of Florida. 



In 1877-78 the Blake, under the direction of 

 Alexander Agassiz, continued work about the 

 Florida Keys, north of Havana, and on and about 

 the Yucatan Bank, with a few hauls off the mouth 

 of the Mississippi. In 1880 the Blake made a 

 single dredge haul east of Cape Catoche, Yucatdn. 



In 1884, 1885, and 1886 the U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission steamer Albatross took a number of dredge 

 hauls off Havana and in the Gulf of Mexico. 

 Subsequently, the Bureau of Fisheries ships Fish 

 Hawk and Grampus worked along the west coast 

 of Florida. 



The Bahama Expedition of the State University 

 of Iowa made a few dredge hauls off Havana in 

 1893, and in 1938 and 1939 the Atlantis of the 

 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution made an 

 intensive survey of the deeper waters about Cuba. 



John B. Henderson, in his yacht Eolis, dredged 

 extensively about the Florida Keys and on the 

 Pourtales Plateau, and Hubert Lyman Clark 

 made intensive studies of the littoral species at 

 Tortugas under the auspices of the Department 



of Marine Biology of the Carnegie Institution of 

 Washington. Waldo L. Sclimitt also collected 

 much interesting material in the same region. 



It is most gratifying to be able to say that all 

 the echinoderms from these collections, both gov- 

 ernmental and private, have been studied and 

 reports on them published. Furthermore, the 

 material has been collected in comprehensive 

 monographs by Mortensen (Echinoidea) , H. L. 

 Clark (Ophiuroidea), Doderlein (Euryalidae and 

 Gorgonocephalidae) , and A. H. Clark (Crinoidea), 

 so that the relationships of the various species to 

 others in different parts of the world may be 

 readily appreciated. 



But it is evident that by far the greatest part 

 of our knowledge of the echinoderms of the Gulf of 

 Mexico is confined to those species in the extreme 

 southeast, about the Florida Keys and along the 

 northern coast of Cuba. The remainder of the 

 Gulf is largely a blank, and this is especially true 

 of the zone between the shore line and 150 fathoms 

 where undoubtedly many additional species re- 

 main to be discovered. Even among the Florida 

 Keys, the most thoroughly worked of any com- 

 parable warm water area, there is still much to be 

 found as is evident from the recent discovery of 

 such conspicuous shallow water species as Astro- 

 pyga magnifica, Copidasfer lymani, Ophidiaster 

 bayeri, and Schizostella bifurcata . 



CRINOIDEA 



Family COMASTERIDAE 



Nemaster grandis A. H. Clark. 

 Nemaster iowensis (Springer). 

 Nemaster rubiginosa (Pourtalfes). 

 Nemaster discoidea (P. H. Carpenter). 

 Neocomatella pulchella (Pourtalfes). 

 Neocomatella alata ( Pourtales). 

 Leptonemasler vennstus A. H. Clark. 

 Comalonia cristaia (Hart.Iaub). 

 Comactinia echinoptera (J. Miiller). 



Family COLOBOMETRIDAE 



Analcidometra armata (Pourtalfes). 



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