WEST INDIAN STARFISHES 5 



writer, in 1859. He then described with care thirteen species, 

 in the Museum of Copenhagen, mostly from the Lesser Antilles. 

 Six were described as new, mostly with doubt. At least four of 

 these proved to be synonymous with those of Gray and other pre- 

 vious writers, who had poorly described them. His careful de- 

 scriptions are, however, invaluable for the determination of most 

 of the early known species, and mark an era in work of this kind. 



In 1867 the present writer published a faunal list of West 

 Indian species, for comparison with that of the Panama region. 

 This list included twenty-four nominal species, but at least five 

 of these have since become synonymous. On the other hand, two 

 or three previously described species were omitted. Thus the 

 number of species of this fauna actually known at that time was 

 about twenty. 



The beginning of dredging in somewhat deep water was made 

 by Pourtales in 1867 and 1868, but only one additional species 

 of starfish was then added by him.^ Subsequently, these investi- 

 gations were carried on by the ' ' Bibb, ' ' in 1869, and the ' ' Hass- 

 ler" in 1872, under the direction of Pourtales, and in 1872, un- 

 der Dr. Wm. Stimpson by the ''Bibb" and "Bache." But no 

 separate lists of the starfishes taken in those years has been pub- 

 lished. Some are included in the "Revision" by Perrier, 1875 

 and 1876 (see Bibliography) ; others in his 1884 report on the 

 Blake starfishes. 



Mr. Alexander Agassiz carried out his extensive dredgings in 

 the Caribbaean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, etc., on the "Blake" in 

 1877, 1878, 1879, and 1880. About 350 stations were occupied 

 by the Blake. 



These explorations ^ added numerous species of starfishes to 

 the fauna, not only from great depths, but also many from com- 

 paratively shallow water. 



The starfishes thus obtained by Agassiz were described by Per- 



land, and both coasts of tropical America are classical and indispensable. 

 He also wrote on fishes, ascidians, actinians, and other subjects. 



For many years he was a most esteemed correspondent of the writer. 



2 Catalogued by Agassiz as Pteraster militaris, now called P. caribiceus 

 Perrier. 



3 A very complete and interesting account of these explorations is given 

 by Mr. A. Agassiz in ' ' Three Cruises of the Blake. ' ' Vols. I, II. 1888. 



