124 Transactions. 



Although it is stated in the preface to the " Index " that I 

 revised the Echinoidea, star-fishes, and Hydrozoa, I am not 

 entirely responsible for the lists of these groups. When the 

 late Captain Hutton was compiling the work, in reply to his 

 request I sent copies of my papers to him, and some notes on 

 the nomenclature of several species, and I offered to revise 

 the lists when compiled, but I did not see them until the book 

 was published. 



Ophiuroidea. 

 Ophionereis schayeri. 



This species, which is abundant near Wellington, Nelson, 

 and Auckland, is very widely spread. Professor Kirk, of Vic- 

 toria College, found it at the Chatham Islands ; Mr. Haylock 

 obtained specimens at the East Cape and at the Kermadec 

 Islands ; Dr. Ludwig has determined specimens from Juan 

 Fernandez as our species (Zool. Record, 1898. Ech., p. 67) ; 

 this or a very nearly allied form was described by Mr. E. A. 

 Smith in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1877, p. 92, 

 from the Galapagos Islands, under the name Ophionereis albo- 

 maculata ; and it occurs freely on the eastern coast of Australia. 

 This is one of the two New Zealand littoral ophiurans which 

 extend northwards into the Indo- Pacific region, the other being 

 Ofhioynyxa australis. I have found young specimens on the 

 roots and stems of seaweed {Lessonia and Macrocystis), and it 

 probably came to New Zealand across the Tasman Sea on 

 floating seaweed. The southern branch of the Pacific Equa- 

 torial Current, which strikes the north-eastern coast of Australia 

 and is diverted thence southwards and eastwards across the 

 Tasman Sea, assisted by the prevailing westerly winds, has 

 apparently been the means of adding many species to our littoral 

 marine faima. Our hydroid fauna especially shows the effect of 

 this commingling of Australian forms with those which are 

 peculiarly New-Zealandian. 



The distribution of this sea-star appears to indicate a very 

 great amount of vitality. From New Zealand (probably via the 

 Chatham Islands) it has spread right across the South Pacific 

 Ocean and up the western coast of South America in the line of 

 distribution of the great sea-tangle of the Southern Ocean, 

 Macrocystis pyrifera, a line of distribution followed by a con- 

 siderable number of other southern forms, as pointed out by 

 Professor D'Arcy Thompson in the Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., 

 vol. xxii, p. 313. The holothurian Colochirus brevidentis is 

 in the same category if Ludwig's identification of specimens 

 from Juan Fernandez is correct. Professor Kirk also found 

 Ophiomyxa australis at the Chatham Islands. 



