242 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
1. Ophiura appressa Say. 
Very common from South Carolina and Bermuda to Brazil, found in similar situations with 
0. brevispina, which it closely resembles in size and color. Oral shields usually wider than long, but 
even this difference is not very constant. Small specimens of the two species are distinguishable with 
difficulty. 
There are 27 specimens of this species in the Fish Hawk collection, varying greatly in size and color. 
Taken at Ponce, Ensenada Honda (Culebra), Caballo Blanco and Guanica, and at stations 6088 and 
6093. Mr. Gray took this species at San Juan, also. 
2. Ophiura brevicauda Lyman. 
This handsome ophiuran is common in shallow water from Florida eastward throughout the 
West Indies, found under stones on sandy bottom. The disk may be 20 mm. in diameter. The color 
varies to an extraordinary degree from green or blue and white to pink and white, but most of the Porto 
Rican specimens are cobalt-blue and white. 
0. brevicauda is represented by 25 specimens from Ponce, Ensenada Honda (Culebra), Caballo 
Blanco, Puerto Real, and station 6076. Mr. Gray took it at San Juan. 
3. Ophiura brevispina Say. 
This is also a variable and handsome species found with the preceding and not always easily 
distinguished from it. It does not reach quite such a large size and the prevailing colors are shades of 
green, gray, and red. The oral shields are usually ovoid in outline. 
This species is widely distributed from Bermuda to Brazil. Twenty-seven specimens from Porto 
Rico vary in color from uniform grayish white to pink and white or green and light brown. They were 
collected at Ensenada Honda (Culebra,) Arroyo, Puerto Real, and stations 6079, 6080, 6086, and 6096. 
4. Ophiura cinerea Lyman. 
This rather somber-colored brittle-star is found throughout the West Indies from Florida to 
Brazil, occurring under rocks with the preceding forms. It reaches a large size (25 mm. in diameter), 
but the arms are comparatively short, not more than 4 times the diameter of disk. The color varies 
little, except in intensity. In large specimens the upper arm-plates are usually broken into several 
pieces. 
Sixty-three specimens of 0. cinerea were obtained, chiefly from Ensenada Honda (Culebra), 2 
from Puerto Real. The largest has the disk 23 mm. in diameter and arms 67 mm. long. Mr. Gray 
found the species common at San Juan. 
5. Ophiura rubicunda Lyman. 
This large and handsome species seems to be the least common of the five members of the genus 
found in Porto Rico. It has been taken at the Tortugas, Cape Florida, St. Thomas, and Colon, and 
probably occurs throughout the West Indies, being found under or among stones and coral in shallow 
water. It reaches a diameter of 25 mm., and the arms are 5 to 6 times as long. The color varies 
somewhat, but is always more or less reddish. 
Only 3 specimens were obtained by the Fish Hawk, but one of them is a very fine one, the disk 
23 mm. in diameter, the arms 135 mm. long. It was taken at Ensenada Honda (Culebra), while the 
other 2 are from Ponce and station 6097. 
6. Ophiolepis elegans Lutken. 
A handsome species, reaching a diameter of 18 mm., though usually smaller; the arms are only 
2 to 3 times as long. The upper surface is variegated brown, gray, and white; beneath it is pure 
white; the arms are banded. 
O. elegans is found from South Carolina southward through the West Indies in water of from 2 
to 30 fathoms depth. A single specimen was taken at station 6086. The disk is 8 mm. across and 
the arms are only 17 mm. long. There are 4 arm-spines on most of the joints, but 1 has 5, and a 
few have only 3. 
