32 



JAMES A. GRIEG 



[REP. OF THE "MICHAEL SARS" NORTH 



OPHIUROIDEA 



Pectinura elata Koehler. 

 Pectinura elata Koehler, Ophiures. Exp. Sci. du "Travailleur" et du 

 "Talisman", 1906, p. 249, tab. 18, figs. 1 — 3. 

 8 / 5 stat. 25 B, 35 s 46' N8 3 16' W, 2055 m., yellow mud, 8 spe- 

 cimens. 



8/e stat. 53, 34° 59' N. 33" l'W, 2615—2865 m., yellow hard clay- 

 ish mud, temp 3° Cel. Two specimens. 



The smallest specimen has a disc-diameter of 14 mm. 

 the largest of 25.5 mm. Koehler states that this species 

 har three arm-spines. I found 3 to 4 spines in all of the 

 specimens under consideration, but the extreme arm- 

 joints possessed only 2. One of the specimens from stat. 

 53 differed besides from the typical Pectinura elata by 

 having the ventral surface of the disc covered with granu- 

 les, in this respect agreeing more nearly with Pectinura 

 heros Lyman. However, as it agreed with Koehler's spe- 

 cies in other characteristics, such as the forms of the 

 mouth-shields and the size of the arm spines, I have 

 referred it to that species. The remaining specimen were 

 typical Pectinura elata, apart from the somewhat diver- 

 gent number of arm-spines. 



Pectinura elata was previously taken only by the 

 „Talisman" in 1883 at a station off the west coast of 

 Africa, (25° 2' — 25° 6' N 19° 11' — 19° 13' W, 2325—2518 

 m.) Its horizontal distribution should thus at present 

 be from 25° 2' to 35' 46' N and from 8 3 16' to 33° l'W. 

 The bathymetrial distribution is from 2055 to 2865 m. 



Ophiopleura borealis Danielssen & Koren. 

 Ophiopleura borealis Danielssen & Koren, Nyt Mag. f. Naturvidensk. 

 vol 23, 1877, p. 77, tab. 5, figs. 1—4. 

 »/ 8 _io/ 8 s tat. 102, 60" 57' N 4"38' W, 1098 m. Dark sand and clay, 

 temp, -j- 0.9 Cel. Three specimens with a disc-diameter of 31 — 40 m. 



Ophiopleura borealis has not before been recorded 

 from the Faroe — Shetland Channel. The southern limit 

 of its distribution in the Norwegian Sea was formerly 62° 

 43' N. It is a true Arctic species, known from Disco- 

 very Bay, the east coast of Greenland, the Norwegian 

 Sea, Spitzbergen, Barents Sea, Franz Joseph Land, the 

 Kara Sea and the Siberian Polar Sea as far as 124° 41' E. 

 The bathymetrial distribution is 9 — 1411 m. It lives 

 preferably in the cold area, but was, however, also met 

 within the adjacent warm area (bottom temperature 

 l.i to 1.39°). 



Ophiura convexa Lyman. 

 Ophiolyplm convexa I.yman, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol 5 no. 7, 

 1878, p. 84 tab 3 figs. 84 & 85. 

 19 A stat. 10, 45° 26' N 9 ° 20' W, 4700 m., yellow mud, temp 2.56 

 Cel. Four specimens. Diameter of disc 12 — 15 mm., length of arm 

 17—27 mm. 



Ophiura convexa was taken by the "Challenger" in 

 the South Atlantic off the west coast of Africa, 4300 m., 

 as well as in the Pacific, 3751 — 4209 m. It was later 

 obtained by the Prince of Monaco between the west coast 

 of Africa and the Azores (29° 5' — 39° 54' N, 16° 58' 

 - 22° 22' 45" W, 3825—4360 m.) and by the "Albatross" 

 off New England, 2942 — 4710 m. Lyman besides doubtfully 

 records its being found by the "Blake" off the Antilles, 

 209—494 m. 1 ) 



Of the last-named form, which Koehler later de- 

 scribed under the name Ophiog/ypha coronata 2 ). I have 

 had a specimen for examination from St. Lucia, and 

 after comparing it with the "Michael Sars" specimens 

 from the great ocean depths, I agree with him in con- 

 sidering this shallow-water form from the Antilles as 

 distinct from Ophiura convexa. 



Ophiura concreta Koehler. 

 Opliioglypha concreta Koehler, Bull. Soc. Zool. de France, vol. 26., 



1901, p. 228. 



18 /t stat. 88, 45°26'N 25° 45' W, 3120 m., sand and yellow 

 mud, temp. 2.5° Cel. Three specimens. Diameter of disc 21— 26.5 mm. 

 breadth of arms at border of disc 3 — 4 mm. In all of the specimens 

 the arms were torn off. 



Ophiura concreta was hitherto known only from 

 two specimens, the one found in 1901 by the Prince of 

 Monaco off the Cape Verde Is., 2478 m., the other in 

 1883 by the "Talisman" off the Azores, 2995 m. 



Ophiura irrorata Lyman. 

 Opliioglypha irrorata Lyman, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 5 nr. 7, 

 1878, p. 73, tab. 4, figs. 106—108 



,8 /t. Stat. 88, 45° 26' N., 25° 45' W., 3120 m., sand and yellow 

 mud, temp. 2.5° Cel. Four specimens. Diameter of disc 15 — 18.5 mm., 

 breadth of arms at border of disc 2.2 — 3 mm. The length of arm in 

 the smallest specimen was 53 mm., without the point, which was 

 wanting. One of the other arms was absent and in all of the speci- 

 mens they were very defective. 



Ophiura irrorata, like Ophiomusium lymani, is a 

 world-wide species. It is known in the Atlantic from 

 New England, the West Indies, the Bay of Biscay, Por- 

 tugal, the Azores and the Canary Is. It was further 

 found off the Cape of Good Hope, the Bay of Bengal, 

 New South Wales, Japan, Bering Sea, the Gulf of 

 California, the Gulf of Panama and the Galapagos Is. 

 The bathymetrical distribution is 604 — 4315 m. (cfr. Clark ;i ) 

 and Koehler 4 ), who also dealt with the complicated 

 nomenclature of this species. 



') Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. vol 10 no. 6, 1883, p. 243 tab. 4, 

 figs. 40—45. 



2 ) Bull. U.S.Nat. Museum no. 84, 1914, p. 12, fab. 2, figs. 3 & 4. 



3 ) Bull. U. S. Nat. Museum, no. 75, 1911, p. 62. 



*) Bull. U. S. Nat. Museum, no. 84, 1914, p. 18, tab. 1 figs. 3 & 4. 



