152 Transactions. 



abut upon the upper end of the large supra-marginals, every third of which 

 bears a spine, which projects laterally, forming a fringe along the side of 

 the arm. The infra-marginals are horizontally extended, each bearing 2 

 spines, obliquely set, one sHghtly above the other. The spines are cylin- 

 drical, short, and relatively stout, with rounded roughened tip, those at 

 the margin somewhat flattened from above downwards. 



The adambulacral armature consists of a single series at the proximal 

 portion of the groove (about one-third of its length), but further away 

 from the mouth each plate bears 2 spines, the inner being slenderer than 

 the outer, but of the same length. 



The individual in alcohol has 3 small regenerating arms. 



Colour. — In life it is bright blue ; when dried it is pale grey. 



Locality. — Cast up on Denham Bay beach, Sunday Island ; and also 

 found under stones below low-water mark at Coral Bay. 



Remarks. — I find no reference, in the Uterature at my disposal, to any 

 starfish of this subgenus Stolasterias having a naked central area ; but, as I 

 have mentioned, S. aleocandri is nearly naked at this point. It is a curious 

 exception to the general rule of development of the plates of the disc for- 

 mulated by Ludwig that the centrale is the first to appear — at any rate, in 

 the Mediterranean species. 



I may state that I have a very small specimen of A. calamaria — less 

 than the smaller of the two above described — in which the disc-skeleton is 

 already well developed. 



Ophiuroidea. 



Oliver writes, in explanation of the condition of the Ophiurids, "' I had 

 great difficulty in preserving the brittle stars and holothurians ; they were 

 all obtained at Meyer Island or at Coral Bay, and often two or three days 

 would elapse between the time the specimens were collected and my return 

 to camp, so I was forced to put them into spirit before they were quite dead, 

 with the result that they broke themselves up." 



Ophionereis schayeri Miiller and Troschel. 



This species has already been recorded from the islands by Farquhar 

 (1906). Oliver states that it is " very common in sand and mud, under 

 stones, in rock-pools, and about low-water mark." 



This common New Zealand brittle star is highly variable in coloration, 

 which Farquhar has suggested may be protective. This author has given a 

 full account of its anatomical features (1894) and a list of references (1898). 

 and in another paper its distribution (1906), so that I need not add anything 

 further. 



Locality. — Meyer Island ; and elsewhere on these islands (Haylock). 



Distribution.— New Zealand (from Auckland to Dmiedin), Chatham 

 Islands, Australia (east coast), Tasmania, Juan Fernandez, and probabl}- 

 Galapagos. 



Amphiura squamata Delle Chiaje. 



I have given the full synonymy, and references in my report oii the 

 Echinoderms from the subantarctic islands (1909) ; but recently Lyman 

 Clark (1909) has suggested that this southern form — at any rate, that from 

 Australia — is a distinct species, and places it in the genus Am/phifholix 

 (= Amfhiura) as A. australiana. But if it turns out that our New Zealand 



