38 INLAND FISHERIES. 



We have in Narragansett Bay four species of starfishes, out of 

 the eight hundred or more which are known to occur the worhl 

 over. They are : 



The common starfish (Asterias Forbesii). 



The purple starfish (Asterias vulgaris). 



The blood starfish (Cribrella sanguinolenta). 



The snake starfish (Ophiopholis aculeata). 



The last two species are so distinctly different from each other, 

 and from the first two, that there is no difficulty in identifying 

 them. Neither species is harmful to the shell fisheries. 



The common starfish and the related purple star vary so much 

 with regard to color, shape of arms, size, number of species, etc., 

 that the French naturalist, Perrier, has made five distinct species 

 of Asterias to include those starfish along- our coast, which, accord- 

 ing to the American naturalists L. Agassiz, Stimpson, and Yer- 

 rill, belong to two species only. 



I have endeavored during the last year to ascertain whether 

 some of these varieties were to be explained as a ditierence in 

 sex, but I have been unable to discover any such relation, and am 

 not able to distinguish males from females except by the sexual 

 products. 



II. What is the geographical and hathyinetrical distribution .^ 

 ( J'he reply to these questions will indicate the area suhject or tnost 

 lialde to incasion.) 



Geographical distribution, (Only the first two species are con- 

 sidered in this report.) The purple star ranges from Labrador 

 (probably further north) to Cape Hatteras, and is most common 

 north of Cape Cod. The common star ranges from Maine to the 

 Gulf of Mexico, and is the species most common south of Cajje Cod. 



Bathymetrical distribution. Purple star; high water to 208 

 fathoms. Common star ; high water to 20 fathoms. 



From the numerous dredging expeditions of the U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission launches and the steamer " Fish Hawk", carried on last 

 summer, it appears that in Narragansett Bay the purple starfish 



