LECTURE X. Hi 



*d ; while the whole surface of the body is mark- 

 ed into numerous, slightly-prominent, reticular 

 spaces of a triangular figure. It is a native of the 

 Indian seas. 



The Ast. Gigas * is of similar size and colour, 

 and is all over roughened by small pointed pro- 

 tuberances, which also verge the margins of the 

 rays : it is a native of the Atlantic, and is well 

 figured in the magnificent work of Seba. 



Of the British species the A. papposa or com- 

 mon twelve-rayed Star-fish is a good example. Its 

 colour is a dark yellowish red, and its surface 

 roughened by very numerous small protuberances. 

 Its usual number of rays or limits is twelve, but 

 it varies, from ten or eleven, to thirteen or even 

 fifteen. 



The most curious of the whole tribe is the A. 

 Caput Medusce of Linnaeus, or Medusa's Head 

 Star-Fish. It grows to a large extent, measuring 

 more than two feet in diameter when the limbs 

 are fully extended. This very extraordinary ani- 

 mal is first divided into five equidistant, jointed 

 processes, each of which is soon subdivided into 



* A. Giga*. ? Mus, Tessin. pi. 9. 



