56 SEA-SHORE LIFE 
the disk being about five inches. thick, and one and one-half 
feet in diameter. The five arms are short and blunt, and the up- 
per surface is covered with short, blunt, rounded spines, with 
a network of ridges 
between them. The 
color is brown, or 
brownish-yellow. 
The Green Ser- 
pent Starfish, (Ophi- 
ura brevispina), 
is a West Indian 
and Tropical Atlan- 
tic species, but it 
is common in some 
parts of Long Isl- 
and Sound where 
the bottom is cov- 
ered with eel grass, 
as in Great Peconic 
Bay. Itis dark, rich 
olive green in color, 
and the central disk 

Fig. 28; GIANT STARFISH. 
From Sandy Bottom at Tortugas, Florida. 
is five-sided and 
about one-half of an inch wide. The long, slender arms arise 
sharply from each of the five angles of the central disk. These 
arms are each about two and one-half inches long, and are covered 
with scales which give rise to short spines along the sides. In 
life they thrash about in a snake-like manner. 
The Serpent Stars are the most active of all starfishes, for 
their long, flexible arms and tube feet enable them to clamber 
rapidly over the ground. Although no eyes are known to exist 
they readily perceive the approach of an enemy, and will dart into 
the nearest rocky crevice with remarkable rapidity. If one of the 
arms be seized, it is immediately thrown off leaving the remaining 
parts of the Star to escape. 
The Brittle Starfish, (Ophiopholis aculeata, Fig. 29), is readily 
distinguished by its mottled coloration in light gray and purplish 
brown, no two individuals being alike in pattern. The disk is 
