STAR-FISHES, SEA-URCHINS, ETC. 
351 
Photo by N. Lax.arnick'\ Terk 
STAR-FISH IN WATER 
If pulled to pieces, each of the fi-ve arms, or f tigers, ’will 
gro'w into a perject star-fish 
to within comparatively recent years the so-called 
MeduSa’s-HEAD Lily was, indeed, regarded as 
the only living representative of the group. This 
species has a pentagonal jointed foot-stalk that 
may be 3 feet long, with five slender appendages 
developed in whorls at short sub-equal distances 
throughout its length. From the shallow cup- 
shaped body at the apex of the stalk a tassel-like 
bundle of arms is developed, all of these being 
produced by repeated bifurcation from one of 
the five equivalent basal stem-joints. Dredging 
expeditions have within the last quarter of a 
century revealed the existence of a considerable 
number of previously unknown species of stone- 
lilies in the abysses of the ocean, a depth of no 
less than 3,200 fathoms representing the habitat 
of one such type. 
The Star-fish group is represented by the 
Common Five-fingers,, or Cross-fish, as it is 
sometimes called,, and includes a very numerous 
assemblage of species of varying size and shape 
and colour. The British seas alone yield some 
twenty forms. Among the more, notable of these 
is the Sun Star-fish, which, departing from the 
rule of possessing five arms only, has twelve or more, its contour, from which it derives its 
name, somewhat resembling that of a symbolic sun. The colours of this species are particularly 
brilliant, consisting usually of a variably patterned admixture of crimson, pink, and white. 
An extreme contrast in contour to the sun-star is 
presented by the so-called Biru’s-foot species, in 
which the body is pentagonal and so flattened out 
as to somewhat resemble the foot of a duck. In 
the Cushion-stars the body, while pentagonal, is 
comparatively thick. 
The so-called Snake-armed Sand-stars and 
Brittle-stars constitute a section distinguished 
from the preceding by the character of the arms, 
which branch separately from the central body, and 
are composed of an innumerable series of calcareous 
joints, which snap asunder under the slightest 
provocation. The great majority of the species are 
provided with five simple arms only. In an ex- 
ceptional form, however, known as the Shetland 
Argus, and its allies, these five arms, while simple 
at their base, bifurcate repeatedly and in geometrical 
progression to such an extent as to form in life 
a complex network of writhing, snake-like tendrils, 
that has been appropriately likened to a Medusa’s 
head. It has been calculated that there are no 
less than 80,000 terminal arm-subdivisions in adult 
examples of this species. 
Among the Sea-urchin Tribe there are 
many notable departures from the typical form 
Photo by Conncld~\ 
[.St. Leonards 
STAR-FISH, OUT OF WATER, 
TURNING OVER 
The sucker-tipped tubes with which the star-fish effects 
locomotion are well shown in this photograph 
