ECHINODERMATA. 



By Hubert Lyman Clark. 

 (Plates xlvii.-lviii.) 



The collection of Echinoderms made by the " Thetis " is not very 

 extensive, containing, as it does, only eight hundred and seventy- 

 five specimens, representing fifty-four species, with five hundred 

 and forty-eight of the specimens belonging to four species. In 

 spite of the small size of the collection it is of great scientific 

 interest, not merely because eighteen of the species have not 

 hitherto been described, but also because of the new light which 

 it throws on the breeding habits of some species and the distribu- 

 tion of certain genera. The specimens sent me represent only 

 twenty-five stations of the fifty-nine occupied by the " Thetis " ; 

 there are, however, in addition, forty-two specimens from Lord 

 Howe Island, representing thirteen species, and a few labelled 

 *' near Sydney," " Barrenjoey," or " off Broken Bay." The 

 stations which revealed the richest Echinoderm fauna (aside from 

 Lord Howe Island) Avere 57, off Wata Mooli, 54-59 fathoms, 

 where nine species were taken; 13, off Cape Three Points, 41-50 

 fathoms, where nine species occurred ; and 48, off Wollongong, 

 55-56 fathoms, where eight species were found. At stations 10, 

 36, 44 and 54, five or more species were collected. 



The specimens from Lord Howe Island are of particular 

 interest, because when considered in the light of previous know- 

 ledge they furnish us with a fair idea of the Echinoderm fauna 

 of that isolated islet. In 1887 the Trustees of the Australian 

 Museum sent a party to Lord Howe Island for the purpose of 

 extending our knowledge of its geology and zoology. In Mr. R. 

 Etheridge's (junior) report on " The General Zoology of Lord 

 Howe Island," 1 which was based chiefly upon the work of this- 

 party, of which he was a member, the following Echinoderms are 

 recorded from the island.- 



Asterias calamaria, Gray. 



Asterina exigua, Lamk. 



Ophidiaster germani, Per. 



Patiria crassa, Gray. 



Ophiocoma breviceps, Peters. 



lEtheridge— Austr. Mus, Mem. ii., 1, No. 1, 1889, pp. 36-39. 

 2The names are reprinted here exactly as they are given, regardless of 

 typographical errors. 



