The Hijlory of ANIMALS. 
AJlerias radiis tredecim obtufis . 
1 be Afterias^ with thirteen obtufe rays . 
This is a very Angular fpecies: it has fcarce any diftinguifhable central part or body ; 
the rays ftand fo dole, that they cohere for more than half their length, only feparating 
toward their points ; they are thick, fhort, and obtufe ; the diameter of the whole 
animal is about two inches and a half, and it’s colour a reddifh-brown : it is very ten¬ 
der and friable, and the whole upper furface is covered with fhort tentacula. 
It is not uncommon on the coafts of the Eaft Indies, and fome other places. 
AJlerias radiis quinque tenuioribus . 
Tdhe AJlerias , with five Jlender rays . 
This is a fmall fpecies, the rays feldom exceeding fingly an inch and a quarter in 
length : the body is fmall, the rays are of a conic figure; they are pointed at the ex¬ 
tremity, and are all over covered on the upper furface, with fine fhort and flexile ten¬ 
tacula : it is of a brownifh-white colour, and very tender and friable. 
It is frequent about the coafts of Italy, and in moil of the feas that wafh the warm¬ 
er parts of Europe. 
The other fpecies of Afterias are, i. The broad-bodied, fhort-rayed, five-rayed 
Afterias. 2. The large, obtufe, and fhort-rayed Afterias. 3. The broad and undu- 
lated-rayed Afterias, with thick and pointed tentacula. 4. The broad, fhort, and 
fiat-rayed, five-rayed Afteras, with fhort, hair-like tentacula. 5. The Afterias, with 
five fhort, obtufe, elliptic rays. 6. The Afterias, with five, long, flender, arid undu¬ 
lated, hairy rays. 7. The Afterias, with five, broad, hairy, undulated rays. 8. The 
Afterias, with five, narrow, thick rays, with the tentacula as it were prickly. 9. The 
Afterias, with five, thick, narrow, and very fharp-pointed rays. to. The Afterias, 
with five, broad, hollowed, and pointed rays. 11. The Afterias, with five deeply 
furrowed rays. 12. The Afterias, with twelve fhort-pointed rays. 13; The Afterias, 
with ten hairy and undulated rays. 14. The Afterias, with fe.ven narrow and long 
rays. 15. The Afterias, with feven broader and tuberculofe rays. 16. The Afterias, 
with three long, flender rays. 17. The Afterias, with numerous, hollowed rays. 
18. The Afterias, called the Sea Comet by authors. 19. The lumbrical Afterias. 
20. The narrow and hairy-armed Afterias. 21. The great Afterias, with ramofe rays, 
called the Magellanic ftar-fifh, and the bafket-fifh: the extremities of the rays of 
this fpecies are fubdivided to an almoft; inconceivable finenefs; and the creature, when 
it extends them fully, forms a circle of near three feet in diameter: the fragments of 
the rays of this fifh furnifh the fofiile entrochi. 
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