Farquhak. — Notes on Neiv Zealand Echinodenns. 125 



Amphiura elegans. 



I have followed Professor Bell in retaining Leach's specific 

 -name degans (Catl. Brit. Ech., p. 119), although Lyman pre- 

 ferred that of Delle Chiaje — squamata. (Chg. Rpts., vol. v, p. 136). 

 This is an exceedingly interesting little species, on account of its 

 remarkable geographical distribution, being widely diffused in 

 the temperate seas of botli hemispheres. It occurs freely on 

 seaweed in rock-pools near Wellington, and I found great numbers 

 on seaweed in rock-pools at Gisborne, as noted by me in the 

 Linnean Society's Journal (Zool.), vol. xxvi, p. 191. It also 

 occurs in deeper water among sand and gravel, Mr. H. Suter 

 having dredged up a quantity of specimens in Lyttelton and 

 Akaroa Harbours. 



Ophiactis nomentis, n. s. 



The disc is roundly subpentagonal in form, somewhat swollen 

 above, constricted above the arms, and the edge thick and 

 rounded between the arms ; about 9 mm. in diameter. The 

 arms increase slightly in width to a short distance from the disc 

 and then taper evenly to a fine extremity ; they are about 

 46 mm. in length, and the greatest width is 2 mm. The disc 

 is closely covered above with small, rounded, irregular, imbri- 

 cating scales, somewhat elongated towards the edge of the disc, 

 armed with small, bluntly pointed, smooth spinelets, thickly 

 placed at the edge of the disc between the arms, and a few 

 scattered irregularly around the radial shields and sometimes 

 towards the middle. The radial shields are seed-of-pear-shaped, 

 2 mm. long and a little less than 1 mm. wide, separated their 

 whole length by a narrow wedge of small elongated scales. One 

 rounded leaflike mouth-papilla on each side of the base of the 

 mouth-angle. Mouth-shields round, with a very slight peak with- 

 out. Side mouth-shields triangular with re-enteringly curved 

 sides, meeting or almost meeting within. The teeth are 

 short, stout, and wedgelike, the uppermost one being often 

 rounded and leaflike. The upper arm-plates are transversely 

 -oval, much broader than long, covering the whole of the upper 

 part of the arm ; some of them are usually split into two or 

 three pieces in adult specimens. The under arm-plates are 

 circular, slightly truncated within. The side arm-plates, 

 which do not meet, bear four short, stout, blunt, divergent 

 arm-spines, and one round, leaflike tentacle-scale. The colour 

 of dried specimens is brownish-grey above, the arms being 

 banded or variegated with darker grey, and yellowish-white 

 l)eneath. In life the disc is reddish, becoming bright-red towards 

 the edge of the disc between the arms. 



