and Shells of Massachusetts Bay. 57 
peated efforts for the preservation of specimens proved 
fruitless, owing to the extreme delicacy of their texture 
and coloration, both of which were destroyed almost im- 
mediately upon immersion in any spirituous solution. 
OPHIURA LAcERTOSA? Lk. 
Stella longicáuda, Linck ? St. p. 47, tab. ai. no. 11. 
plané conch. t. 4. f. 4. 
Found in great numbers in the stomachs of fishes 
caught in our outer Bay. Color varies from uniform 
dark brown or black, to reddish or yellow, sometimes 
having the rays barred transversely with red and black 
or brown and yellow. No specimens entirely perfect 
were ever obtained. There is also another species of 
Ophiura, of which only small portions of the rays were met 
with, whose upper surface was somewhat carinate or an- 
gular instead of rounded or depressed, as in this. 
Actinia PLUMOSA, Mull. 
Zool. Dan. t. 88. f. 1. 9. 
Seen about the bridges over Charles River, in con- 
siderable numbers, the past summer. 
AcTINIA sENILIS, Lin. 
Syst. Nat. p. 1088. &c. Common about the rocks 
at low water mark off the Harbor of Gloucester. Spe- 
cimens were occasionally met with of more than four 
inches in diameter when fully expanded. The colors 
varied from reddish or purplish to a yellowish white, 
presenting a very beautiful appearance where the ani- 
mals were grouped in any number. 
