

[497] INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF VINEYARD SOUND, ETC. 203 



stems arise in great abundance to the height of an inch or more. This 

 species was particularly abundant on the reef oft' Watch Hill, and those 

 obtained on the 13th of April were loaded with the reproductive cap- 

 sules, (gonothecse.) 



At the same place we obtained luxuriant specimens of 0. flabellata, 

 (p. 390,) some of which were eight or ten inches long and profusely 

 branched ; these also bore reproductive capsules at the same date. 



The curious Antennularia antennina was dredged off Gay Head in 

 eight fathoms, where a number of large and fine specimens were ob- 

 tained. This species had not been previously recorded from America, 

 but it is not uncommon in the Bay of Fundy. 



The Alcyonoid Polyps are represented by the northern Alcyonium 

 carneum, (Plate XXXVIII, fig. i'S3,) which we dredged off Gay Head, 

 off Cuttyhunk, and on the reef at Watch Hill. This species grows up 

 into lobed or arborescently branched forms, with the delicate, translu- 

 cent polyps mostly clustered toward the ends of the branches. The 

 general color is translucent, pale yellow, or salmon, sometimes more or 

 less tinged with orange or red. Among the Actinoids there is a species 

 of Edwardsia, (E. lineata V.,) which is as yet undescribed. It occurred 

 in considerable numbers crowded into the openings and interstices be- 

 tween ascidians, worm-tubes, &c. It is peculiar in having no distinct 

 naked basal portion, at least in the numerous specimens hitherto seen, 

 for in all cases the rough epidermis extended entirely over the base. 

 The tentacles are long, slender, thirty or more, and each usually has a 

 flake-white line down the center. The disk is usually marked with radi- 

 ating white lines. This species was dredged off Gay Head and also on 

 the reef off Watch Hill. 



The Sponges are numerous on the outer rocky bottoms, and belong 

 to about a dozen species, "most of which are still undetermined 5 but 

 they are nearly all northern forms, common in the Bay of Fundy. 



One of the most common is the Chalina oculata, which forms thick, 

 upright, more or less flattened stalks, which, as they grow larger, fork 

 and divide into more or less numerous, and often digitate branches, 

 which vary greatly in form and thickness ; scattered over the surface 

 are round orifices, about a tenth of an inch in diameter. The color is 

 dull orange-red, when living, but the color disappears when the animal 

 matter is removed, leaving the sponge white. The texture is open and quite 

 delicate. Another very curious species, (Polymastia f) when young, forms 

 yellowish white incrustations over stones and shells; later, it rises at sev- 

 eral points into long, slender, round, tapering, finger-like prolongations, 

 which do not branch, but are often so grouped as to give a digitate 

 appearance to the whole. This was dredged off Gay Head in 18 to 20 

 fathoms, and is also common in the Bay of Fundy. One of the most 

 abundant species of this region forms very irregularly shaped, uneven, 

 pale yellow masses, attached to the stems and fronds of Phyllophora and 

 other small algra, and often, as it grows larger, spreading over and 

 15 v 



