372 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



of Nereis was found in small numbers in blue-fox droppings on 

 Attu Island. 



A small, tan-colored earthworm was noticed on several occa- 

 sions, well up in the grass of the islands. 



ECHINODERMS 

 BRITTLE STARS 



Gorgonocephala eucnemis var. caryi, the basket star, has five 

 arms which branch and rebranch profusely toward the periphery 

 into a tangled mass of tendrils. The terminal branches writhe 

 slowly in the living specimen and are tan in color. Specimens 

 were snagged occasionally on codfish hooks. 



Ophiopholis acuteata is a small reddish species often streaked 

 or mottled with lighter colors. It was collected on three islands. 



Ophiura sarsii is grayish or tan. It was collected on three is- 

 lands. 



STARFISHES 



Two specimens of Aleutiaster schefferi, a small stubby six- 

 rayed starfish were taken; 1 on Attu Island and 1 on Amchitka, 

 in both cases by dredging. They formed the basis of a new genus 

 and species (Clark 1939). The family Ganeriidae, to which 

 Aleutiaster was assigned, hitherto included 4 genera in the Ant- 

 arctic and 2 in the West Indies. "It is especially interesting, 

 therefore, to find a member of this family in the North Pacific." 

 The topotype has a radius of only 5 millimeters. 



Two species of Henricia were collected. H. leviuscula, taken 

 only once, was noted l as purple above and tan beneath. H. 

 sanguinolenta form tumida, taken on five islands was noted as 

 red. The latter is a slender, five-rayed "blood star" with a radius 

 of about 20-30 millimeters. In a tide pool on Umnak Island it 

 was associated with other starfishes of the same size, but with 

 six-rays (Leptasterias). 



The only large species of starfish in the Aleutian Islands, ac- 

 cording to A. H. Clark, is Asterias amur.ensis (fig. 3). A speci- 

 men taken at Unalaska was wine-colored above, crossed by white 

 channels and spots, and was light tan below. A pronounced 

 light radial streak on the dorsal surface of each ray extended 

 from a pentagonal hub at the center. The limp, floppy attitude 

 of this starfish is quite different from the rigidness of the com- 

 mon mainland Pisaster. 



Four species of Leptasterias were collected, L. alaskensis most 



