8 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 



at no less than twenty-five out of one hundred and one stations 

 constitutes quite a remarkable record. 



The species represented are the following: 



Nemaster iou'ensis Comactinia meridionalis 



Nemaster discoidea Analcidometra armata 



Leptonemaster venusius Coccometra kagenii 



Democrinus rawsonii 



Of these seven species one, Analcidometra armata, is new to 

 the fauna of Barbados, having previously been known only from 

 near the Tortugas, Florida, and from off Colon. The record of 

 Nemaster discoidea from Antigua is the first record of any cri- 

 noid from that island. 



Professor Nutting's notes on the occurrence and color of the 

 comatulids at Barbados are very interesting and instructive. 



He saj^s that "as a whole they seemed much more brilliant 

 than the forms encountered on the 'Pentacrinus ground' off 

 Havana and on the Pourtales plateau by the Bahama expedition. 

 Few marine animals are harder to secure intact than these, as 

 the very fragile arms are almost sure to be broken in dredging, 

 either with the dredge or tangles. We secured a number of per- 

 fect specimens by taking them from the crannies in large coral 

 rocks brought up from time to time in the dredge. Here they 

 had been protected and could be taken out without injury; but 

 their colors, alas, soon vanished in preservatives. This habit of 

 living in rocks .... was quite the usual thing off Bar- 

 bados. We often found these crinoids far in the interior of 

 masses of old coral rock brought up in the dredge, and we were 

 careful to break such rock very thoroughly, as fine comatulae 

 were often found within a cavity in the very heart of such 

 masses. 



"It is hard to imagine the use of these brilliant colors in a 

 habitat such as this. Of course the rocks themselves were often 

 brilliantly colored by the assemblage of corallines, sponges and 

 gorgonians with which thej' were overgrown. The predominating 

 colors of these were red and yellow, which also characterized the 

 comatulids as well. I find the following colorations of free 

 crinoids mentioned in my notes: 'yellow and white; yellow and 

 red; purple and white; black arms, with yellowish pinnules; 



