193 



From Harvard College, ''Bulletin of Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology, Vol. yi., No. 3. 



PAPERS READ. 



0^ THE Habits of some AttstraIiIAn Echini. 



By THE Eey, J. E. Tenisox- Woods, F.Gr.S., F.L.S., President 

 OF the Linz^ean Society, N.S.W. 



In 1877 I published in the Proceedings of this Society a list of 

 the Australian Echini known to me. I was not able at that time 

 to add very much about their habits, a defect which in the present 

 paper I propose to remedy to some extent. It may be remarked 

 that not much is known about the habits of most of the species. 

 In the elaborate work of Agassiz on the Echini there is a chapter 

 on their habits, but it is very short. What it says may be 

 summarized in a few words. It states that they are gregarious, 

 that some live on the sand, that others bury themselves in cavities 

 of the rocks which the}^ scoop out for themselves, and that a few 

 adhere to the rocks by their powerful suckers. Very little more 

 is added, but probably because facts of a more detailed kind did 

 not come within the scope of the work. I find also on looking 

 through the works of the greatest modern writers onEchi7ii, such 

 as Loven, Yerril, Desor, Dujardin, and Hupe, that little is 

 said about the habits of the living species. I regret that I am 

 not able to add very much myself, and my facts will only have 

 reference to the most of our own species, but still I am in hopes 

 that before long I shall be able to add much more. The dredge 

 has been so little used on the Australian coast that a great many 

 of the species whose habitat is far from the land are only known 

 from specimens which have been cast up upon the sea-beach. 

 This is especially the case with Phyllacanthus annidifera. P. dnhia, 

 lives on a sandy bottom at a depth of from six to ten fathoms. 

 Its food or its mode of life are unknown. As far as I know, it 

 prefers tranquil sandy bays and partially enclosed waters. It 

 seems to be very common all round the Australian coast. In Port 

 y 



