ECHIXOIDEA. II. 



and Iceland must accordingh- for the present not be named among the locahties of this species. At 

 the Fjeroe Islands I have taken |in 1899I enormous quantities of dead tests together with some living 

 specimens; thus in ca. i5ofathom.s, 13 miles W. by S. of :Munken (at the South End of Sudero) I took 

 in one dredging 672 dead tests and only 14 living .specimens; in ca. 70 fathoms, 9 miles E. S. E. of 

 cBispen (at the north end of the i.slands) one dredging gave 50 dead tests and 2 Hving .specimen.s. 

 At these localities also enormous quantities of dead mollusc-shells and very few living specimens 

 were found; thev ma^• with full right be termed submarine < shellbanks '. 



For the rest, Echinocyamus piisillus occurs from Northern Norway, along the European coasts, 

 in the British Seas, the Mediterranean, at the Azores and along the African Coast down to Cape Bojador 

 (Doderlein. Op. cit. p. 234). The bathymetrical distribution is from o— ca. 400 fathoms, the greatest 

 depth from which the species is hitherto known with certaint>- being 835 meters (61' 7' Lat. N. 9° 30' 

 Long. W. — Thor 1904). The fairly numerous records of its occurrence at greater depths (down to 

 (800—1000 fathoms) are, so far as I have been able to ascertain, all based on wrong identifications, as 

 shown below. (A pair of small, old dead tests of Ech. pHsilhis from a depth of 1290 M. (Lat. N. 38' 

 Long. W. 30°! do not prove that the species lives at so great a depth.) 



According to Professor A. Agassiz, whom all the later authors follow in this, Ecliinocyamus 

 pusilhis is found also on the American side of the Atlantic, viz. at Florida and the West Indies (Gulf 

 of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Brazil) at a depth of 75— ca. 800 fathoms (.most abundant between 150 and 

 400 fathoms . Blake -Echini, p. 40). It is also recorded from 5 fathoms at Salt Key (Pourtales); but 

 since Profes.sor Agassiz himself owns to have at first mistaken \oung Clypeasters (Stolonoclypusi for 

 Echinocyamtvs (Rev. of Echini p. 3041, it ma\- perhaps be allowed to suggest that the specimens from 

 vSalt Kev are also realU \oung Chpeasters, this E-cluiiocyuiiiiis having nowhere else been recorded 

 from less than 75 fathoms. The fact that Fwh. pusillus is not known (livingl from Iceland, Greenland 

 and the American Coa.st north of the Florida Strait makes it beforehand doubtful, whether the American 

 form can be realh' identical with the European species (though, of course, it is not impossible, other 

 instances of species occurring both at the West Indies and in the Mediterranean being well known). 

 A close examination of specimens from the Blake , the : Albatross and the Challenger |St. 122), 

 respectiveh- in the U. S. National Museum, the Museum of Yale College and the British Museum has 

 fully confirmed m\ doubt. These specimens differ from F.cli. piisilliis in so many important featiu'es 

 that there can be no doubt of their forming a very distinct, new sjK-cies. I am especially indebted to 

 Professor Rathbun for sending material of this species for study to Cojienhagen. 



Echinocyamus pusillits is further recorded from a tle])lh of 1300 M. from the Azores (Kochler. 

 Op. cit. p. 24) and fmni 1694 M. at Cape \'erde (Dod erlein. Op. cit. p. 234). Having seen that the Ameri- 

 can specimens were not realh' licit, piisillns I felt some doubt, wliether the sjiecimeus from such great 

 depths might not jM-ove identical with the American species, and I therefore applied to Professors 

 Doderlein and Kochler for ])ermission to examine the specimens from these localities. With their 

 usual great liberality they gave their permis.sion; Profes.sor Koehler even sent me all his rich ma- 

 terial of Ecliiiiocyainns. and Professor Chun, besides allowing me to |iarth' denude the oul\ sjiecimeu 



' Coiiii). .\. C. Johaiisen: Om Aflejringen af MoUuskernes .Sk.ilUr i liulsoer og i Havet. X'iilensk. Mcdd. fra Xatur- 

 liisl. I'orcii. Kjobenliavii. 1901. p. 30. 



