174 



COLLECTIONS FROM MELANESIA. 



Table V. — List of Ophiuroidea collected by the 'Alert.' 



1. 



2. 



3. 



4. 



5. 



6. 



7. 



8. 



9. 

 10. 

 11. 

 12. 

 13. 

 14. 

 15. 

 16 

 17. 

 18. 

 19. 

 20. 

 21. 

 22. 

 23. 

 24. 

 25. 

 26. 

 27. 

 28. 

 29. 

 30. 

 31. 



Pectin ura gorgonia 



infernalia 



megaloplax ... 



stellata 



Ophiopeza conjungens,... 

 Ophiolepis annulosa ... 

 Ophioplocus imbricatus 



Ophiactis savignii 



Ophionereis dubia 



Ophiocoma brevipes .. 



scolopendrina 



criiiaceus 



pica 



Ophiarthrum elegans ... 



Ophiarachna incrassata 



Ophiothrix trilineata .. 



■ propinqua , 



longipeda 



csespitoaa 



martensi 



striolata 



galatese 



ciliaris 



rotata 



f uraaria 



■ punctolimbata 



microplax 



darwini 



melanogramma .. 



Ophiomaza cacao tica .. 

 Euryale aspera 



O <n 



— o •« 

 tf — o 



c fc 



in ** 



k 8 -a 





•r. 



5 5 £ 

 -L ?'- 



1-3 



* 

 * 

 * 

 * 

 * 



* 

 * 

 * 



* 



* 



* 

 * 



* 



* 

 * 



* 



* 



* (var.) 



E d _; 

 3.2 § 



<u - a 



* 

 * 

 N 



* 



* 

 # 

 * 

 * 

 * 

 * 

 * 

 * 



The collections of the 'Alert' afford us, then, another justification for 

 the view of the existence in the Indo-Pacific of a widely distributed 

 common fauna. 



It must, however, be carefully borne in mind that the greater part 

 of this common fauna is restricted to the inter-tropical zone; what 

 little we know of the fauna of the Southern Japanese seas leads us 

 to think that the common forms are to be found there also. 



The majority of extra-Australian naturalists have as yet failed a 

 little in recognizing the lesson which these collections bring so 

 prominently forward — a lesson already being learnt by those who 

 have the best opportunities of examining the characters of the 

 Australian fauna ; the term Australian, without definition or 

 limitation, affords no exact information"!". It is greatly to be 

 regretted that in his tables of the distribution of the species collected 



t As is well known, Dr. GHinther has long since recognized this as regards 

 Fishes, and has instituted a South-Australian District (Introd. Study of 

 Pishes, p. 283). 



