THE WEST INDIAN FAUNA. 5 



which forty-six were undescribed. As the total number of spe- 

 cies does not exceed five hundred, the value of these additions 

 to the group is readily estimated. Prior to the explorations of 

 the " Blake," twenty-seven species had been described from the 

 Caribbean region, so that the number of the species character- 

 istic of the district has been nearly trebled ; plainly showing 

 that the deep-water starfish fauna is far richer and more varied 

 than that of the littoral district. 



The collection of ophiurans is perhaps the largest ever made. 

 They seem to play a very important part in determining the 

 facies of a fauna. They occur everywhere, at all depths, and 

 often in countless numbers. I hardly think we made a single 

 haul which did not contain an ophiuran. They often came up 

 when the trawl brought nothing else. In some places the bot- 

 tom must have been paved with them, just as the shallows are 

 sometimes paved with starfishes and sea-urchins, and many spe- 

 cies hitherto considered as extremely rare have been found to be 

 really abundant. Most of the deep-sea Atlantic species obtained 

 by the "Challenger" have been rediscovered in large numbers. 

 Such rare species as Sigsbeia murrhina, Ophiozona nivea, 

 Hemieuryah pustulata, and Opliioc<n,mx hystrix, were found 

 in plenty. As representatives of northern seas may be cited 

 Astronyx Loveni, while the great rarities are represented by 

 a single specimen of Ophiophyllum. Of Astrocnida isidis, 

 of which only three specimens were known, we have half a 

 dozen. A large Pectinura recalls the shallow fauna of the 

 East Indies, while a new Ophiernus brings to mind the antarctic 

 deep-sea forms. Finally, the supposed existence of simple 

 armed Astrophytons is fully confirmed by the various species of 

 Astroschema, and by a new species of Ophiocreas. 



The diligent search of Pourtales in the Straits of Florida, the 

 " Hassler " expedition, the " Challenger " explorations, and the 

 expeditions of the " Blake," have evidently brought up the 

 majority of the species of ophiurans ; for in the enormous mass 

 of specimens gathered in the last " Blake" expedition and by 

 the " Albatross " the number of new species was small. 



It is noteworthy that the explorations of the " Blake " and the 

 subsequent dredgings of the "Albatross " only added one species 



