OF THE FIRTH OF FOETH. 19 



ECHINODERMATA. 



In this list the Crinoidea are omitted, as no specimen of this 

 group has hitherto been found in the Firth. Antedon rosaceus, 

 which is extremely common on the west coast of Scotland, 

 may yet be found within our limits, as its area of distribution 

 seems to extend round the northern coast ; and Mr C. W. Peach 

 has recorded it off Peterhead. Antedon sarsii, a northern 

 species, may be looked for in the seaward limit of the Forth. 

 In the list of Ophiuroidea the arrangement and nomenclature 

 of Professor Lyman, as given in his " Ophiuridae and Astro- 

 phytidse,"* has been followed; and in the Asteroidea, Professor 

 Ed. Perrier's arrangement, used in his " Envision de la Col- 

 lection de Stelle'rides du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de 

 Paris." [ For the Echinoidea, we have followed Professor 

 Alexander Agassiz' nomenclature, as given in his " Eevision 

 of the Echini." J 



Much work must still be done in the investigation of the 

 Holothuroidea of the British Seas before they are properly 

 understood, and the list of the Forth species of this group, 

 which we give, is that which we now regard with least satis- 

 faction. Although from time to time a considerable number 

 of species of Holothurids have been obtained in the Forth, the 

 group is very poor in individuals, so that specimens for com- 

 parison are rarely obtained. 



We have obtained the greatest assistance in the prepara- 

 tion of this list of Echinodermata from the works above men- 

 tioned. Also from Professor Edward Forbes' " History of 

 British Starfishes," and from the Eev. A. M. Norman's valu- 

 able paper on the " Crinoidea, Ophiuroidea, and Asteroidea of 

 the British Seas." Although not always adopting the no- 

 menclature of Professor Forbes, we have in every case given 

 the names used by him in his description of Echinoderms, as 

 his work is in the hands of every student of the group. 



* Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, Mass., 1864. 

 "Y Archives de Zoologie Experimentale, 1875. 

 J Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, Mass., 1874. 

 Ann. and Mag. Nat, Hist., 1865, p. 98, 



