ECHINODERMATA. 



279 



diameter of the disk, very slender and tapering. The zoophyte to 

 which Lamarck gave the name of Ophiura fragile has now its place 

 among the Ophisthrix, the specific name, indicating a particularity of 

 structure in all these small creatures derived from their fragile formation. 

 In short, these heings have so little consistency that they crumble, as 

 it were, under the touch, and become reduced to pulp under the 

 slightest pressure. In Fig. 110 we give the representation of an 

 Ophiura of the natural size, which Lutken has since called Ophiocoma 



Fig. ill. Asterophyton verrucosum (Lamarck). 



This Echinoderm, which lives in the seas of the Antilles, is 

 furnished with five very flexible rays, which are armed with from 

 three to four rows of spines, those on the upper part of the body being 

 very hard ones ; the body and arms of this creature are of reddish 

 brown, streaked with a great number of little white lines. 



The principal type of the Euryalina is the curious and complex 

 Asterophyton verrucosum of Lamarck. They include animals remark- 

 able for the extremely complicated development of their arms the 



