PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



issued 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 86 Washington : 1939 No. 3054 



TWO NEW OPHIUKANS FROM THE SMITHSONIAN 

 HARTFORD EXPEDITION, 1937 



By Hubert Lyman Clark 



New echinoderms from the shallow waters of the West Indies are 

 still to be expected, but it is probable that our knowledge of the 

 littoral forms will not require the addition of many new names to the^ 

 list. It was therefore a great surprise to find that each of two speci- 

 mens, kindly sent to me for examination by Austin H. Clark, of the 

 U. S. National Museum, proves to represent an undescribed species. 

 Each, moreover, is a representative of one of those large and hetero- 

 geneous genera our knowledge of which is too superficial or frag- 

 mentary to permit its dismemberment into smaller and more natural 

 groups. 



It is always regrettable to describe a new species from a unique 

 specimen and never more so than in such genera, but on the other 

 hand such unique specimens must have names assigned to them if 

 they are to be of any value in extending our knowledge of those 

 genera. This is the only justification for publishing the following 

 descriptions. 



I wish to thank Mr. Clark for his generous kindness in permitting 

 me to examine and describe these interesting novelties. 



Genus OPHIACTIS Lutken 



OPHIACTIS NOTABILIS, new species 



PI.ATE 52, Figures 1, 2 



Desc7iption.— Bisk very nearly 5 mm in diameter, hexamerous, 

 slightly puffed out in the interradii and somewhat elevated, though 

 irregularly, on the upper surface. The disk covering consists of 



116508—39 415 



