STARFISHES, URCHINS AND SEA-CUCUMBERS 



granulated with minute spines, and the arms are provided with 

 rows of stout, blunt spines, usually six in a row. There are ten 

 egg-pouches on the lower side of the disk near the points of origin 



of the five arms. 



The starfish is rare 

 in shallow water 

 but is abundant at 

 a depth of about 

 100 feet, where it 

 crawls about among 

 the rocky crevices. 

 It extends from the 

 coast of New Jersey 

 to the Arctic Ocean, 

 and is common on 

 the northern coasts 

 of Europe, and the 

 Pacific coast of 

 North America. It 

 is figured by Lyman 

 under the name 

 OpJiiupliolis hellis. 



The Basket 

 Starfish, (Astrophij- 

 ton agaasizii,) is a 

 species of serpent 

 star which is inter- 

 esting in that tire arms Israucli in a forked manner. Tlie central 

 disk is five-sided, and the arms arise from tiie five angles. At each 

 angle we see two main branches of the arms, then each of these forks 

 giving four branches, and these soon fork again, giving eight. 

 This process is repeated, until, according to Governor John Win- 

 throp of Connecticut, who first described this creature in 1070, the 

 arms give rise to 81920 terminal branches. 



The Ijasket star walks upon the tips of these branches, with its 

 l3ody elevated above the ground, and a perfect trellis work of arms 

 sloping outward, so that the creature is about one and one-half feet 

 in diameter. It is dull yellow and brown in color, and is covered 



Fig. 

 Fiotn Life. 



»9,- BRITTLE ST.\KS. 



Tide Pools; Annisqiiam, iiasfi. 



