﻿176 
  COLLECTIONS 
  FKOM 
  MELANESIA. 
  

  

  sufficient 
  to 
  say 
  " 
  Mers 
  australes," 
  New 
  Holland, 
  or 
  Australia 
  in 
  

   dealina; 
  with 
  a 
  continent 
  which 
  extends 
  over 
  30 
  degrees 
  of 
  latitude 
  

   and 
  40 
  of 
  longitude, 
  howsoever 
  wide 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  dwellers 
  

   on 
  its 
  shores 
  may 
  be 
  ; 
  nor 
  could 
  it 
  be 
  permitted 
  by 
  one 
  who 
  would 
  

   study 
  a 
  collection 
  of 
  Port-Jackson 
  specimens, 
  and 
  then 
  take 
  up 
  the 
  

   corresponding 
  forms 
  from 
  Port 
  MoUe 
  or 
  Torres 
  Straits 
  (cf. 
  Tables 
  

   I.-V. 
  of 
  Distribution). 
  

  

  Ophiuroidea. 
  — 
  Opldophiax 
  stellatus, 
  described 
  from 
  Singapore, 
  and 
  

   found 
  by 
  the 
  ' 
  Challenger 
  ' 
  at 
  lat. 
  11° 
  37' 
  N., 
  long. 
  123° 
  32' 
  E., 
  has 
  

   now 
  been 
  found 
  at 
  Port 
  Molle, 
  Port 
  Denison, 
  and 
  Torres 
  Straits. 
  If 
  

   OpMotlirlx 
  fumaria 
  has 
  been 
  correctly 
  identified, 
  this 
  is 
  apparently 
  

   the 
  first 
  time 
  that 
  a 
  definite 
  locality 
  has 
  been 
  ascribed 
  to 
  it 
  ; 
  0. 
  

   martensi 
  has 
  been 
  shown 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  Australian 
  

   seas 
  ; 
  0. 
  galatece 
  (from 
  the 
  Nicobars) 
  and 
  0. 
  punctolimhata 
  (Java) 
  

   have 
  their 
  distribution 
  extended 
  eastwards 
  ; 
  0. 
  rotata 
  has 
  been 
  ex- 
  

   tended 
  from 
  Mindanao 
  to 
  Thursday 
  Island 
  ; 
  and 
  0. 
  ciliaris, 
  known 
  

   from 
  the 
  "Indian 
  Ocean," 
  has 
  been 
  seen 
  to 
  appear 
  at 
  Port 
  Jackson. 
  

  

  If 
  we 
  might 
  with 
  justice 
  attempt 
  any 
  generalization 
  from 
  such 
  

   facts 
  as 
  these, 
  we 
  should 
  be 
  led 
  to 
  a 
  belief 
  in 
  the 
  significance 
  of 
  the 
  

   free-swimming 
  larva 
  as 
  affecting 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  

   not-stalked 
  Echinoderms. 
  

  

  With 
  regard 
  generally 
  to 
  the 
  Echinoidea, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  said 
  that 
  in 
  

   seven 
  cases 
  we 
  have 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  distribution 
  increased 
  : 
  Diadema 
  

   setosum, 
  Salmacis 
  bicolor, 
  Temnopleurus 
  toreinnaticus*, 
  T. 
  granulosus 
  

   have 
  never 
  yet 
  been 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  coast 
  of 
  Australia 
  ; 
  

   Cliip>easter 
  limnilis 
  and 
  Maretia 
  planidata 
  have 
  been 
  reported 
  from 
  

   New 
  Caledonia, 
  but 
  not 
  from 
  such 
  a 
  locality 
  as 
  Port 
  ]\Iolle 
  or 
  Clair- 
  

   moutf. 
  Temnopleurus 
  bothryoides, 
  found 
  by 
  the 
  ' 
  Challenger 
  ' 
  in 
  the 
  

   Arafura 
  Sea 
  and 
  Kobi, 
  Japan, 
  is 
  now 
  known 
  from 
  an 
  interme- 
  

   diate 
  locality. 
  The 
  members 
  of 
  this 
  class 
  bear 
  ample 
  witness 
  to 
  the 
  

   now 
  well-known 
  fact 
  that 
  Indian-Ocean 
  and 
  Pacific 
  specimens 
  in- 
  

   vade 
  largely 
  the 
  Australian 
  seas. 
  

  

  A 
  question 
  which 
  presented 
  itself 
  to 
  me, 
  but 
  on 
  which 
  I 
  can 
  throw 
  

   but 
  little 
  light 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  answer, 
  might 
  perhaps 
  be 
  formulated 
  thus 
  : 
  

   What 
  differences 
  are 
  there 
  between 
  the 
  forms 
  of 
  the 
  eastern 
  and 
  

   northern 
  and 
  the 
  western 
  coasts 
  of 
  xVustralia 
  ? 
  t 
  

  

  To 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  East-Indian 
  islands 
  there 
  lies 
  an 
  area 
  of 
  deep 
  

   sea 
  almost 
  free 
  from 
  islands, 
  and 
  having 
  sweeping 
  across 
  it, 
  in 
  obedi- 
  

   ence 
  to 
  the 
  laws 
  of 
  motion, 
  a 
  current 
  with 
  a 
  south-westerly 
  direction 
  

   from 
  the 
  equator 
  ; 
  this 
  current 
  sweeps, 
  as 
  we 
  know, 
  round 
  the 
  Cape 
  

   of 
  Good 
  Hope, 
  and 
  there 
  comes 
  into 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  southern 
  cou- 
  

  

  * 
  Mr. 
  Tenison-Woods 
  reports 
  it 
  from 
  " 
  all 
  the 
  coasts 
  of 
  Australia, 
  but 
  rare 
  

   outside 
  the 
  tropics." 
  

  

  t 
  But 
  M. 
  planulaia 
  was 
  taken 
  at 
  Port 
  Jackson 
  by 
  the 
  ' 
  Challenger 
  ; 
  ' 
  the 
  

   presence 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  Australian 
  seas 
  is 
  additionally 
  interesting 
  from 
  

   the 
  fad 
  that 
  a 
  form 
  allied 
  thereto, 
  M. 
  anomcda, 
  has 
  been 
  described 
  by 
  Prof. 
  

   Martin 
  Duncan 
  (Q. 
  J. 
  Geol. 
  Soc. 
  xxxiii. 
  p. 
  52). 
  

  

  I 
  For 
  Echinoderms, 
  as 
  for 
  Fishes 
  (see 
  Giinther, 
  ' 
  Introd. 
  Study 
  of 
  Fishes,' 
  

   p. 
  284), 
  the 
  western 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  south 
  coast 
  of 
  Australia 
  is 
  still 
  almost 
  a 
  terra 
  

   incognita. 
  It 
  is 
  earnestly 
  to 
  be 
  hoped 
  that 
  the 
  investigation 
  of 
  this 
  area 
  may 
  

   be 
  soon 
  undertaken. 
  

  

  