7/J WAITAX irOLOTHURIAXS— FISHER. 



639 



which arc either cosmopolitan in tropical and semitropical wateivs or 

 widely distributed over the warmer parts of the Pacific and Indian are 

 oceans. The practicallj' cosmopolitan forms are: Ad > nopyga parr uhi ^ 

 Tlolotliur'ta hnjmtienH^ and liolotlnir'nt afrci^ these being- found in the 

 Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. A general idea of the distribu- 

 tion of the remaining shore forms ma}' be gained from the following- 

 table: 



Distribution of shore formic of ITolothurians. 



Species 



Actinopyga nobilin 



Actinop'i/(ta mauritiaiiu 



Hull ilh III- in ciiii i-ii!<ccii!; 



Hnlnthiiri.i i„,-rir,i.r 



HoUilhiirin it,nii,,r,iri,i 



Hohitlnni.t ra,i„l„n„ln 



HuhMiniu i„srnn,hn: 



Ilolofliiin'ii (ir< iii,-n,,i'i 



Hohithiiiia iianlalis 



HiiUitlm tin iii/nibilis 



Hiiliitli iirin vrniieosa 



Luhitlniii iiiiis SI i}i]>iriaiui III 



Sticliiii'iis r/i/,iiiiiii>tos 



Stii'/lnjllistrnj)inlli.-i 



Si/»aptula kf'frrsteinii 



Enapta godeffroyi 



I Indo- 

 Chinese 

 region 

 Indian (East In- r\'J!>\„<. 

 Ocean. , dies, -'aP'^nese 

 Philip- 

 pines, 

 etc.). 



Chinese- 



reg-ion. 



South Sea 



(Polyne- 

 sia, 



Microne- 

 sia, 



Melane- 

 sia). 



Austra- 

 lia. 



West 



coast of 



Middle 



and 



South 



.America. 



<i Also reported from north and east coasts of Soutli America. 



''Society Islands 



It is hazardous to undertake lo do more than indicate in a general 

 way the relationships of the bathybial fauna, because some of tlie 

 species are obscure and the identification of their nearest relatives is 

 almost a matter of assumption. It is prol)ably true that we haxe not, 

 as yet, sufficient data upon which to map with any degree of accuracy 

 the faunal relationships of deep-sea holotluirians. The bottom of the 

 ocean has been no more than scratched in a few places. Such forms 

 as Bathyplotes ijatagidtvx^ Pa'lopaf/des refifii\ ScofodcivKt r/freuin^ 

 and L^tmogone hherialix appear to find their nearest relatives in the 

 deep waters of the East Indies. Orplnumjux hisigiiis has a related 

 species in tlie Bay of Bengal {(). gJalxr ^^'alsll), and another {<>. 

 anpera Theel) in the West Indies (Sombrero, British West Indies). 

 Mesothnria carnom shows great similarity in most of its characters to 

 M. hitestinalis of northern Europe, and 3L verrllli of the Azores and 

 warmer waters of Europe. PannycJua pallida is closely related to 

 P. moseleyl of Australia and Protankyra alhatrossi to P. chaUengeri 

 of the Fiji Islands. Pxetidostu-hopus prop'ni<pnii< seems nearest Pmu- 

 d<MlchopxiH mollis, from Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean, and 

 from the west coast of South America, near the southern end, Anapta 

 inerrtik is distantly related to A. suUllis^ bay of Batavia, and Chiridota 

 Proc. N. M. vol. xxxii— 07 il 



