132 THE STORY OF ANIMAL LIFE 



.fish or other Echinoder'fn, which is borne at the 

 end of a long fixed stalk. The marble above 

 named owes its ornamental appearance to the 

 presence of these stalks, often very long, and cut 

 through at every possible angle. The Crinoids 

 have their living representative in English Seas, 



FIG. 40. A Feather-Star, Antedon bifida, British Seas, three- 

 quarters of the natural size. The short threads in the middle 

 are the cirrhi. 



Antedon, the Feather-Star (Fig. 40). On the side 

 opposite the mouth, where, in the Encrinite, the 

 stalk would be, there are a group of elongated 

 processes called cirrhi, by means of which the 

 animal can attach itself to stones or seaweeds. 

 When not thus fixed, it swims about, by moving 

 its fringed arms, each of which is forked. It will 

 be seen that when the animal is fixed by its cirrhi, 

 <tt stands mouth upwards, so that its position com- 



