234 



BULLETIN 75, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



plates moderate, meeting both above and below; each plate carries 

 half a dozen slender, sharp spines, the uppermost longest and exceed- 

 ing three j oints ; the two upper spines are smooth but the lower ones 

 are rough near the tip. Tentacle scales single, small, spiniform, and 

 sharp. Color (dried from alcohol), whitish, yellowish, or grayish. 



Localities. Albatross station 2859, off Alaska, lat. 55 20' N.j long. 

 136 20' W., 1,569 fathoms, gray ooze, bottom temperature 34. 9, 183 

 specimens; station 2860, off British Columbia, lat. 51 23' N.; long. 

 130 34' W., 876 fathoms, green mud, bottom temperature 36.5, 

 11 specimens; station 3603, Bering Sea, lat. 55 23' N.; long. 170 

 31' W., 1,771 fathoms, brown ooze, bottom temperature 35.1, 3 



specimens; station 

 4761, off Shumagin Is- 

 lands, lat. 53 57' 30" 

 N.; long. 159 31' W., 

 1 ,973 fathoms, blue 

 clay, bottom tempera 

 ture 35, 14 specimens; 

 station 4766, Bering 

 Sea, lat. 52 38' N.; 

 long. 174 49' W., 1,766 

 fathoms, character of 

 bottom and bottom 

 temperature not ob- 

 served, 117 specimens. 

 Bathymetrical range, 

 876 to 1,973 fathoms. 

 Temperature range, 

 36.5 to 34.9. Three 

 hundred and twenty- 

 eight specimens. 



Type.C at. No. 



FIG. 110. OPHIACANTHA BATHYBIA. x 4. a, FROM ABOVE; b, 25541, U.S.N.M., from 



FROM BELOW; C, SIDE VIEW OF TWO AKM JOINTS NEAR DISK. , j_ 9QKQ 



Although this species has no very distinctive marks, it appears to 

 be different from any other known member of OpTiiacantJia. The 

 form and position of the adoral plates are unfortunately not abso- 

 lutely reliable characters, but taken in connection with others may 

 be useful. The disk covering, the upper arm plates, the arm spines, 

 and the tentacle scales are the most important characters in that 

 connection. The species seems to be a typically abyssal ophiuran 

 and it is rather remarkable that it is so little differentiated from more 

 shallow-water species. 



