[497] INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF VINEYARD SOUND, ETC. 203 
stems arise in great abundance to the height of an inch or more. This 
species was particularly abundant on the reef off Watch Hill, and those 
obtained on the 13th of April were loaded with the reproductive eap- 
sules, (gonothece.) 
At the same place we obtained luxuriant specimens of O. flabellata, 
(p. 390,) some of which were eight or ten inches long and profusely 
branched; these also bore reproductive capsules at the same date. 
The curious Antennularia antennina was dredged off Gay Head in 
eight fathoms, where a number of large and fine specimens were ob- 
tained. This species had not been previously recorded from America, 
but it is not uncommon in the Bay of Fundy. 
The Alcyonoid Polyps are represented by the northern Alcyonium 
carneum, (Plate XX XVIII, fig. 83,) which we dredged off Gay Head, 
off Cuttyhunk, and on the reef at Watch Hill. This species grows up 
into lobed or arborescently branched forms, with the delicate, translu- 
cent polyps mostly clustered toward the ends of the branches. The 
general color is translucent, pale yellow, or salmon, sometimes more or 
less tinged with orange or red. Among the Actinoids there is a species 
of Hdwardsia, (EH. lineata V.,) which is as yet undescribed. It occurred 
in considerable numbers crowded into the openings and interstices be- 
tween ascidians, worm-tubes, &c. It is peculiar in having no distinct 
naked basal portion, at least in the numerous specimens hitherto seen, 
for in all cases the rough, epidermis extended entirely over the base. 
The tentacles are long, slender, thirty or more, and each usually has a 
flake-white line down the center. The disk is usually marked with radi- 
ating white lines. This species was dredged off Gay Head and also on 
the reef off Watch Hill. 
The Sponges are numerous on the outer rocky bottoms, and belong 
to about a dozen species, most of which are still undetermined; but 
they are nearly all northern forms, common in the Bay of Fundy. 
One of the most common is the Chalina oculata, which forms thick, 
upright, more or less flattened stalks, which, as they grow larger, fork 
and divide into more or less numerous, and often digitate branches, 
which vary greatly in form and thickness; scattered over the surface 
are round orifices, about a tenth of an inch in diameter. The color is 
dull orange-red, when living, but the color disappears when the animal 
matter isremoved, leaving the sponge white. The texture is open and quite 
delicate. Another very curious species, (Polymastia ?) when young, forms 
yellowish white incrustations over stones and shells; later, it rises at sev- 
eral points into long, slender, round, tapering, finger-like prolongations, 
which do not branch, but are often so grouped as to give a digitate 
appearance to the whole. This was dredged off Gay Head in 18 to 20 
fathoms, and is also common in the Bay of Fundy. One of the most 
abundant species of this region forms very irregularly shaped, uneven, 
pale yellow masses, attached to the stems and fronds of Phyllophora and 
other small alge, and often, as it grows larger, spreading over and 
15 V 
