M2 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 
be so rare. The specimens of roseola from Bermuda agree exactly 
with those from Wood’s Hole, Massachusetts, and confirm the diag¬ 
nosis of that species which has recently been published. 
Of the other holotluirians I found Stichopus mobii the most abun¬ 
dant, occurring literally by thousands. Holotliuria captiva and 
surinamensis are both very common in suitable places under rocks 
in shallow water. The former, when disturbed or irritated suffi¬ 
ciently, always ejects its pure white and very viscid Cuvier’s organs. 
Cucumaria punctata is not very common, but occurs under rocks 
with the two preceding species. A number of specimens were col¬ 
lected near Coney Island. They differed somewhat in color, one 
individual having the pedicels a distinct red. I took especial pains 
to investigate the relation of Stichopus diaboli and xanthomela of 
Heilprin. The very first stichopus found could not be referred to 
either species, as it was of a uniform reddish brown color without a 
spot! Other specimens were subsequently found which showed 
a very evident intergradation in color between the uniformly black 
individuals and the spotted ones. Two specially noteworthy speci¬ 
mens were collected in Harrington Sound; one was uniformly dark 
brown but showed faintly large blotches of a darker color; the other 
was reddish brown above, but so thickly blotched with black that 
the ground color appeared only as two longitudinal bands, while 
underneath it was almost black with a very narrow longitudinal white 
stripe along each side. On asking the boatman, an intelligent native, 
if there were two kinds of “sea-puddings,” as he called them, he 
replied: “Oh, no, the spotted ones are the young of the other.” 
One fact seems to count against this view. I could find no small 
spotted ones; all of the specimens found, less than six inches long, 
were uniformly dark brown or black. If the color difference is not 
a question of age, it is hard to explain it unless we call it simply 
“individual variation.” I cannot believe, however, that it indicates 
any specific difference. Mr. Carpenter writes me : “ I regret that 
the large size of theholotlmrians made it impracticable to bring back a 
complete series showing gradation stages, as far as color is concerned, 
between Professor Heilprin’s Stichopus xanthomela and Stichopus 
diaboli. I am inclined to think that such a series could be obtained. 
We have some half-dozen specimens which show marked variations 
in the relative amounts of reddish yellow and black.” 
In the genus Stichopus the number, size and arrangement of the 
papillae and tubercles is extremely variable, many specimens being 
