From an examination of the contents of the stom- 

 achs of several ophiurans one is led to suspect 

 that the creatures are scavengers^since it is quite 

 common to find bits of other animals such as a crus- 

 tacean appendage &. None were ever observed to eat 

 anything when kept in the laboratory and it is quite 

 out of the question to observe them in their natural 

 habitat since they arc nocturnal animals remaining 

 hidden during the day. 



Ths ophiurans were first examined for sexual 

 elements early in June and at that time the ec^s 

 were very large but adhered closely together in the 

 gonads. The sperm appeared to be fully formed but 

 were nonmmtile . 



From this time on Until the middle of August 

 the species was regularly watched and examined and 

 on July 16". ths first ripe eggs and sperm were ob- 

 tained. A great number of specimens had that day 

 been dredged and placed in aquaria dishes of fresh 

 filtered sea-water. One week later a great number 

 of adults wepe again brought in and placed under the 

 sane conditions as those which had spawned in the 

 laboratory the week before, but this time very few 



eggs were obtained and all subsequent tor get the 



A 



ophiurans to spsvm were unsuceesful. 



From this it would seem that the breeding sea- 



