110 BULLETIN OF THE 



in confinement in glass aquaria, which condition must be given its proper 

 significance, and may have deterred them from clinging to the parents. 

 In this connection let me mention an observation which has been 

 repeatedly observed in dredging our common " basket-fish." The egg 

 and early development of this animal (Gorgonocephalus Agassizii) is 

 unknown, but the young with arms with a single bifurcation have 

 repeatedly been brought up from the bottom clinging to the disk of an 

 old adult. It is very necessary to find out whether or not the basket- 

 fish is viviparous, as this would possibly indicate. 



The young Amphiurse are born at intervals, in a continuous series, 

 not all at the same time. There are well-developed young of different 

 sizes in the same parent. It was not possible to teU from the size, in all 

 cases, whether the mother or adult had young in the body. Swollen 

 specimens were ordinarily gravid, but many large specimens were without 

 young. 



When the disk of many swollen specimens was looked at from above 

 (abactinal region), one or more of the interradial regions was observed to 

 have a reddish color and to be more swollen than the remaining. On 

 dissecting these specimens to learn the cause of the color and apparent 

 abnormal condition, they were found to harbor in their bodies bundles 

 of claret-colored ova. The development of these ova in the Amphiura 

 was traced by opening several specimens. Eggs were found in all con- 

 ditions of cleavage and larval growth, from very young specimens to an 

 adult Crustacean (Copepod V). They are parasitic in nature, and pass 

 their 3arly life in the body of the Ophiuran. In several instances 

 the ova of Amphiura were found with the ova of the parasite, but in 

 most cases an amorphous reddish mass indicated the possible position of 

 the ovarian gland of the host. The ova of the Ophiuran and those of 

 the parasitic Crustacean can be readily distinguished by a difference in 

 color which is well marked. The eggs of the Crustacean are found in 

 bright red or pink clusters. Those of the Amphiura are red and ora^i^e, 

 and not in free packets. 



The ova of the Crustacean are unattached to the parent. They are 

 often found without parent Crustacean. The development of the parasite 

 will be treated in a special paper. None of the many attempts to produce 

 artificially two Amphiurans by cutting the disk in halves led to positive 

 success, although a six-armed Amphiuran cut in such a way that three 

 arms were left in each half of the body lived as two individuals for a 

 considerable time. They were not observed, however, to bud off new 

 arms, as it was hoped they would do. Embryos with four and six arms 

 were repeatedly found. Adults with six arips were cowpion, 



