534 MELLITA. 



This species does not attain so great a size as E. auritus. It is more cir- 

 cular, but slightly truncated posteriorly ; though in young specimens the 

 general outline resembles more that of E. auritus. and in tliem the position 

 of the vertex is slightly anterior to the apex, while in the larger specimens 

 they coincide. The rosette is somewhat different from that of E. auritus; 

 the median interporiferous space is broader; the posterior pair of ambulacra 

 are much shorter than the odd anterior one. The lunules are small, closed, 

 more or less elliptical. The general structure of the tuberculatum and of 

 the spines does not differ essentially between the two species mi the upper 

 side ; on the lower side, however, the spines are larger and stouter, and are 

 carried upon larger and more distant tubercles in the median ambulacra! 

 and interambulacral spaces. The anus is placed much nearer the posterior 

 edge, being placed on a line drawn through the middle of the lunules. 



The coloration of this species is rather more violet than that of E. auritus 

 in dried specimens. According to Stimpson the color is dark red when alive; 

 darkest below. Seen from the inside, the limestone tracery of the lower floor 

 differs considerably from that of E. auritus. The reticulation of the ambu- 

 lacra at right angles to the tube is highly developed, forming an elongated 

 rosette, beyond the buccal rosette at the base of the auricles, leaving the 

 interambulacral space nearly smooth, while in E. auritus the reticulation 

 covers the whole actinal lloor. The size of the jaws is comparatively larger; 

 the auricles arc more distant. 



Long. Trans. Length Post. Wi.lth Width length Length Oist. Anus 



Diam. Diam. Piir Petals. Intern, ^nacc. Porif. Zone. Ant. Petal. Lunules. from liJge. 



126. 121. 20. 5. 3.5 24. 15.4 19. 



75. 82. 1C. 4.9 3.3 19.1 11.3 5. 



Japan ; New Caledonia ; East India Islands ; South Africa. 



MELLITA. 



Mellita Klein, 1 734, Nat. Disp. Eeh. (pars.) 

 (Set- Part II. p. 319.) 



Mellita erythraea 



! Mdliin erythraea Gray, 1851, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 36. 



There are preserved in the Jardin des Plantes and in the British Museum 

 specimens of this species marked as coming from the Red Sea. It is the 



