STARFISHES, URCHINS AND SEA-CUCUMBERS 61 
intestine extends the entire length of the body, and may be seen 
through the translucent skin, especially when it is distended by the 
sand which the creature constantly swallows in order to obtain the 
minute organisms upon which it feeds. 
The Synapta lives within a tube made of fine sand particles 
aglutinated with adhesive slime. This tube is made up of a series 
of rmgs. The Synapta selects little particles of sand with its ten- 
tacles, and then fastens them together so as to 
forma ring around the mouth. The ring is then 
foreed down the sides of the body by muscular 
contraction, and thus a tube is finally made with- 
in which the creature lives. 
Our Synapta has the curious habit of break- 
ing itself into pieces by muscular constriction, 
and if placed in unfavorable conditions, it soon 
breaks up into numerous short lengths. 
A good figure of it is given in Agassiz’s 
“Seaside Studies,” under the name of Synapta 
tenuis. 
The Red Sea-Cucumber, (Synapta roseola )/, 
closely resembles Synapta inherens but can be 
at once distinguished by its reddish color, and by 
the fact that it lives under stones or in gravelly 

beaches, never in sand or mud. 
The Crimson Sea-Cucumber, ( Cuvieria squa- 
mata), is found along the New England coast pe Bea 
north of Cape Cod. It is of a brilliant red color, 
and the sides and back are shingled with round-edged scales. The 
lower side of the body is free of scales, but is provided with three 
rows of tube-feet bearing suckers. 
There are ten tentacles which branch profusely and resemble 
beautiful red trees almost as long as the body. The creature becomes 
about eight inches long. The brilliant red larve, about as large as 
a pin’s head, occur in myriads in the ocean during the spring and 
early summer months. 
