78 Mr. Foggo on the Echinodermata of the Frith of Forth. 



lock, which does not appear to have been observed before. 

 Its characters are, " above, muricated, disc well defined, ele- 

 vated ; the rays convex, 9 in number, longer than the breadth 

 of the disc." It is about three inches in breadth, of a lively 

 red colour, and the rays have the appearance of being slight- 

 ly palmated. If it be a new species, it might be assigned a 

 place in the British Fauna with the trivial name Rotata. 



Of the Ophiurae, the most common on eur coast is the 

 O. echinata. It may be often found at low water-mark 

 between Leith and Portobello, and among the roots of the 

 larger fuci left by the tide. When thrown ashore alive they 

 often bury themselves in the sand. 



O. lacertosa occurs in great numbers at Portobello har- 

 bour among the rejectamenta of the sea. I have never seen 

 it alive. 



O. bodotriae. I have given this name to a species of which 

 I found several specimens in August 1824, near Gosford 

 House. In appearance it is exactly intermediate between the 

 O. echinata and lacertosa. 



It is about the same size as the former, of a light brownish 

 red, and may be easily distinguished by its spines, which are 

 strong, patent, and very short, their length not exceeding one 

 half the breadth of the ray ; while in O. echinata they are 

 much longer, and in the lacertosa, very delicate, and closely 

 adpressed so as to be scarcely visible. 



Good essential characters might perhaps be drawn from 

 the form and arrangement of the scales. On the O. echinata 

 there are two triangular scales, at the insertion of each of the 

 rays, their smallest angles directed to the centre, the rest of 

 the disc being covered with tubercles and spines in form of a 

 stem ; and, in full grown specimens at least, a ridge of tu- 

 bercles extends throughout the whole length of the ray. O. 

 bodotriae has the disc covered with orbicular scales arranged 

 nearly in concentric circles, and separated from each other, 

 as are the elliptical scales of the rays, by minute papillae and 

 smaller scales. In the axils of the rays in the O. lacertosa, 

 there is a small scale beautifully crested ; on the disc, at the 

 insertion of the rays, there are two similar scales as in the 

 O. echinata, differing in size and figure from the others, 



