Rejjort on the Marine Fauna of S.W. of Ireland. 619 



following : — A. filiformis, 0. F. Miill., Station III., 44 fathoms ; TI., 75 

 fathoms; JBerehaven, abundant, 5 to 12 fathoms; Bantry Harbour, 

 rare; XII., 40 fathoms; A. elegans, Leech (= Ophiocoma neglecta, 

 Forbes), between tides, Berehaven ; Ophiactis ballii, Thomps. (+ Ophio- 

 coma goodsiri, F.), Station I., 80 fathoms; Ophiocoma nigra, 0. F. 

 Miill., Berehaven, 5 to 12 fathoms, common; Ophioglypha lacertosa, 

 Penn, Stations I., III., IV., VIII. The specimens from the first 

 locality from 80 fathoms were of large size, the disc of the two largest 

 measuring 29 and 33 mm., in diameter ; two from Berehaven, 24 and 

 27 mm. ; one from Station VII., 27 mm. ; that of the largest specimen 

 seen by Forbes was ro" of an rach (23 mm.) in diameter. Wyville 

 Thomson [Dejjths of the Sea, p. 100) also remarked on the large 

 size this species attains oii the S.W. coast; 0. albida, Forbes, Stations 

 III., VIII., IX. ; 0. affinis, Liitk., Station V., 120 to 110 fathoms; 

 sand not unfrequent ; of small size; VII., 40 fathoms; coarse sand, 

 Berehaven. These are the first recorded Irish localities for this species. 

 Ophiothrix pentaphyllum, Penn, Station II. ; 25 to 20 fathoms ; sand ; 

 a few young fonns ; VIII., 5 to 12 fathoms ; not abundant. 0. liitkeni, 

 "Wyv. Thoms., Station I., 80 fathoms. This beautiful species was first 

 mentioned and named in Wyville Thomson's Depths of the Sea, 

 p. 100, but it has never been described nor figured. It occurred off 

 S. W. Ireland, lat 51° 1' JST., long 11° 21' W., at 180 fathoms (Station 

 45a ; second cruise of the " Porcupine," July 30, 1869). In the Proc. 

 Roy. Soc. Edin., 1883-84, xii., p. 710, Hoyle states that five speci- 

 mens were obtained by the "Porcupine." The "Challenger" ex- 

 pedition dredged a voung example from 450 fathoms ; near the 

 Azores, Station 75, lat, 38° 37' X., long. 28° 30' W., July 2, 1873. 

 (Lyman, Report on the "Challenger" Ophiuroidea). The following arc 

 the only published descriptions of this species : — " A large species of 

 Ophiothrix, coming near 0. fragilis, but of much larger size ; the disk 

 in the larger specimens 25 mm. in diameter, and the span from tip to 

 tip of the rays 275 mm. The coloiu's of the disk are very vivid, purple 

 and rose ; and all the plates of the disk, and the dorsal plates of the 

 arms, are studded with delicate spines" [Depths of the Sea, p. 100). 

 "Large and similar to Ophiothrix fragilis, but with short, thin arm 

 spines, high arched arms, and minute spines on upper arm-plates " 

 (" Challenger " Report, p. 215). Hoyle, in his " Revised List of Bri- 

 tish Ophiuroidea" {Proc. Roy. Phys. Soe. Edinl., VIII. , p. 154), 

 merely repeats the foregoing localities. Two specimens were dredged 

 by the expedition ; the disk of the larger specimen is 29 mm. in dia- 

 meter ; the length of the arms is 250 mm., thus making the span from 

 tip to tip of the arms 525 mm. ; the diameter of the disk of the smaller 

 is 25 mm. As this species has never been figured nor fully described, 

 it is proposed to supplement this deficiency in the final report. We 

 may claim this fine species as being a characteristic inhabitant of the 

 deeper water off the south-west coast of Ireland. 



