137 
the developing star of the larva. This reason, evidently, is of very 
small weight only, and there is, at least, one faet which appears 
to show that the larva cannot belong to this Ophiuroid. Amphiura 
Chiajei was found at Kristineberg to have its breeding season only 
from the middle of September, no specimens with ripe genital pro- 
ducts having been observed before that time. But, as stated above, 
the larvæ were found in the beginning of August, and not later. 
Everything thus points towards Ophiura af/inis as the species to 
which this larva belongs. It is true, the species is not recorded 
as occurring at Bohuslån x ), but I found it there in a dredging off 
„Smedjan“ on the 19th August 1918 (together with Opliiura ro¬ 
busta Ayres, which was likewise unknown from the coast of Bo¬ 
huslan). The specimens were noted to contain no ripe sexual pro- 
ducts. This faet is also in accordance with the observations on 
the larvæ, which were all in the metamorphosis stage, so that the 
breeding season of the species should be about the middle ofjuly. 
Provided the reference of this larva to Ophiura af/inis be cor- 
rect, this will add considerably to the remarkable diversitv among 
the larvæ of apparently so closely related species as Ophiura 
texturata and albida, the difference of these larvæ being so con- 
spieuous that it is hard to understand, how they can belong to 
the same genus. In case that — as I think there is some reason 
to suppose — Ophiopluteus compressus should prove to belong 
to Ophiura Sarsi , this diversity will be still more remarkable. 
The conspicuous difference in regard to colour between the 
Adriatic specimens of this larva and those from Bohuslån might 
indicate that the Adriatic form of Ophiura affinis differs to some 
extent from the Scandinavian form. I was therefore very mueh 
interested in learning from my friend, Professor Koehler in Lyon, 
that he was inelined to regard the Adriatic form of Ophiura af- 
finis (the Ophiura Grubei Heller) as at least a distinet variety; a 
careful comparison of the single specimen from the Adriatic at my 
disposal with specimens from the Scandinavian seas convinced me 
of the correctness of Koehler’s view. Indeed, I should be mueh 
*) H j. The el. Om utvecklingen af Sveriges Zoologiska Hafstation Kri¬ 
stineberg och om Djurlifvet i angrånsande Haf og Fjordar. Arch for 
Zoologi. Bd. IV. 1907. 
