OPHIUBANS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 77 



approximated at the base of the arms; the under brachial plates are pentagonal, 

 middle-sized, always a little wider than long. The brachial spines, amounting to 

 seven or eight, are hardly echinulated, rather thin, elongated, and the length of the 

 dorsal ones equals at least two and a half articles. The tentacular scale is middle- 

 sized with a rather obtuse point in the largest specimens. 



I shall refer again to 0. aculeata a little further on when studying 0. fraterna 

 and 0. meridionalis. 



OPHIACANTHA ANOMALA Sars. 



Plate 15, figs. 3-5. 



Ophiacantha anomala G. O. SABS, Forh. Vidensk. Selsk., 1871, p. 12. 



Ophiacantha anomala VERRILL, Amer. Journ. Sci., vol. 16, 1878, p. 214. 



Ophiacantha anomala VERRILL, Check list Mar. Invert., 1879, p. 14. 



OphiacantJia anomala LYMAN (82), pp. 179 and 198. 



Ophiacantha anomala LYMAN (83), p. 260. 



Ophiacantha anomala STORM, Kong. Norske Vidensk. Selsk., 1883, p. 10. 



Ophiacantha anomala VERRILL (85), p. 547. 



Ophiacantha anomala LUDWIG, Sitzb. Akad. Berlin, 1899, p. 21. 



Ophiacantha anomala VERRILL (99), p. 36. 



Ophiacantha anomala VERRILL (99a), pp. 324, 335, 339. 



Ophiacantha anomala MORTENSEN (03), p. 86. 



Ophiacantha anomala LUDWIG (04), p. 694. 



Ophiacantha anomala MORTENSEN (10), p. 290. 



? Ophiacantha nodosa LYMAN (82), p. 192, pi. 22, figs. 1-4. 



Albatross station 2068. Sept. 1, 1883. Lat. 42 03' N.; long. 65 48' 40" W.; 

 131 fathoms; s., fne. g., etc.; temp. 42 F. Two specimens. 



Albatross station 2663. May 4, 1886. Lat. 29 39' N.; long. 79 49' W.; 

 421 fathoms; br. s.; temp. 42.7 F. One specimen. 



Albatross station 2666. May 5, 1886. Lat. 30 47' 30" N.; long. 79 49' W.; 

 270 fathoms; gy. s.; temp. 48.3 F. Two specimens. 



Albatross station 2668. May 5, 1886. Lat. 30 58' 30" N.; long. 79 38' 

 30" W.; 294 fathoms; gy. s. dd. co.; temp. 46.3 F. Two specimens. 



Albatross station 2669. May 5, 1886. Lat. 31 09' N.; long. 73 33' 30" W.; 

 352 fathoms; gy. s. dd. co.; temp. 43.7 F. One specimen. 



Although 0. anomala has often been cited by authors, for it has often been met 

 with in the northern seas of Europe, and Verrill has reported it, as long ago as 1878, 

 on the coasts of North America, it is after all little known, and I do not think 

 anything has ever been added to the original, and by the way, excellent description 

 which Sars published in 1871 and which was made from a specimen 11 mm. wide. 

 But I observe, either on the specimens gathered by the Albatross in American seas, 

 or on those coming from European seaa which were lent to me or which are in 

 my own collection, such variations as relate chiefly to the age of the examples and 

 which it is important to note, the more so because some of these differences 

 apply to the characters which Verrill referred to in order to classify the Ophi- 

 acanthidae; it will consequently be of value to describe these specimens and to 

 publish illustrations of some of them. 



In the specimens which I have in hand, the diameter of the disk ranges between 

 12 and 5 mm.; all of them have six arms. The disk is hexagonal, generally a little 

 excavated in the interradial spaces. In the younger specimens, the upper face 



