Fig. 15. Actinal aspect of the same specimen: natural size.
16. Portion near the middle of a ray, actinal aspect: magnified.
17. Portion near the middle of a ray, abactinal aspect: magnified.
Cribrella oculata {Linck), Forbes. Plate II, Figs. 18-21.
1733. Pentadactglosaster oculatus, Linck, De Stellis marinis, p. 35, pi. xxxvi. No. 62,
1776. Asterias sanguinolenta, O. F. Möller, Zool, Dan. Prodr. p. 234, No. 2836.
1776. Asterias pertusa, O. F. Muller, Zool. Dan. Prodr. p. 235, No. 2839.
1777. Asterias oculata, Pennant, British Zoology, vol. iv. p. 61, pi. xx x . fig. 56.
1780. Asterias spongiosa, Fabricius, Fauna Grosnlandica, p. 368, No. 363.
1805. Asterias sepoeita, Retzius, Dissert, sist. spec. cog. Asteriarum, p. 21.
1823. Asterias pertusa, Fabricius, 3L Danske Yid. Selsk. Skrifter, yol. ii. p. 41, pi. iv. fig. 2.
1828. Asterias oculata, Fleming, Hist. British Animals, p. 487.
1839. LincTcia oculata, Forbes, Mem. Wem. Soc. vol. viii. p. 120.
1840. Eenricia oculata, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. vi. p. 184.
1841. Asterias spongiosa, Gould, Invert, of Massachusetts, p. 345.
1841. Gribella oculata, Forbes, Hist. British Starfishes, p. 100.
1842. Echinaster oculatus, Müller & Troschel, System der Asteriden, pp. 2 4 ,1 2 7 .
1842. Echinaster Eschrichtii, Müller & Troschel, System der Asteriden, p. 25.
1844. Echinaster sanguinolentus, Sars, Wiegm. Arch. f. Naturgeschichte, vol. x. p. 16.
1844. Echinaster Sarsii, Müller. & Troschel, Wiegm. Arch. f. Naturgeschichte, vol. x. p. 179.
1844. Echinaster oculatus, Düben & Koren, K. Yet. Akad. Handl. 1844, p. 241.
1848. Asterias spongiosa, Desor, Proceed. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. vol. iii. p. 67.
1851. Echinaster Eschrichtii, Brandt, MiddendorfFs Sibirische Boise, vol. ii. p. 32.
1853. LincTcia oculata, Stimpson, Invert. Grand Manan, p. 14.
1853. LincTcia pertusa, Stimpson, ibid.
1857. Oribrella sanguinolenta, Lütken, Yid. Meddel. N. Forening i Kjöbenhavn, 1857, p. 31.
1862. CribeTla sanguinolenta, Dujardin & Hupé, Hist. Nat. Zooph. Échinodermes, p. 349.
1862. Gribella Eschrichtii, id. ibid.
1865. Cribrella sanguinolenta, Norman, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 3, vol. xv. p. 124.
1866. Henricia oculata, Gray, Synop. Spec. Starf. Brit. Mus. p. 5.
1866. Oribrella sanguinolenta, Yerrill, Proceed. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. vol. x. p. 345.
1866. Echinaster oculatus, von Martens, Troschel’s Archiv f. Naturgesch. Jg. 32, i. p. 84.
1869. Echinaster oculatus, Perrier, Bech. sur les Pédicell. et les Ambul. p. 57.
1875. Cribrella oculata, Perrier, Stellérides du Museum, p. 1 09; Arch. d. Zool. exp. e t gén. iv. p. 373.
Rays normally five in number, although examples with six or seven are occasionally
found. Proportion of disk- to arm-radius 1 :4 or 5. The arms are round, excepting a
slight flattening on the under surface, and long, slender, and more or less tapering
towards the extremity. In some specimens there is a considerable swelling-out of the
ray at the base, followed by a constriction at the junction with the disk—a feature
which is generally most developed in female specimens in egg, and must probably be
regarded in a great measure as simply a character dependent on sex.
The abactinal network is composed of very short stout ossicula, irregularly and very
closely reticulated, the interspaces being small in area, in correspondence with the
shortness of the calcareous elements. The ossicula bear more or less compact groups
of fine spinelets, which vary in number, size, and habit, the spinelets themselves being
3-5-laminate and correspondingly dentioulate at the apex. The membrane of the
interspaces is punctured for papulae, of which, in young stages of growth, seldom more
than one is present in each ; but in specimens of larger size one to four or more may
be found. The ventro-lateral plates form two or three series, and their spinelet-groups
are arranged at right angles, or sometimes slightly diagonally, to the median line of
the ray. The foot-papillae are somewhat larger and stouter than the rest of the spinu-
lation; those which form the immediate margin of the ambulacral furrow consist of
one or two still stouter spinelets, which at an early age are generally arranged in single
file upon the adambulacral plate, and are followed by 2-4 pairs of spinelets merging
gradually into the size of those of the ventro-lateral series. At a more advanced stage
of growth the innermost foot-papillse have not unfrequently become arranged as a pair of
spinelets, very obliquely placed upon the plate, and followed by one or two of similar
size and character, these in turn being succeeded by the series of intermediate spinelets
forming the transition into the ventro-lateral spinulation. Occasionally the innermost
spinelets form an oblique comb-like arrangement on the plate. Each adambulacral
plate also bears another spinelet, very small in size, situated high up in the furrow,
and generally invisible to superficial examination. The anal orifice is central and
conspicuous. The madreporiform body is large and irregular in form, and situated
midway between the margin and the centre ; in young stages it is covered with spinelets,
but in older specimens these very frequently disappear, leaving visible the more or less
irregular arrangement of curved and dichotomosing striae that intersect the organ.
Size.—The largest Greenland specimen is cited by Lutken as 140 millims., whilst
Sars mentions one 165 millims. in diameter from Esmark in Christiania Fjord. The
usual size is from 50 to 75 millims.
Colour.—The Greenland specimens are described as brick-red when alive (Lutken).
Those on our own coasts are generally dark red or deep purple above and straw-coloured
beneath, whilst occasionally bright vermilion is met with {Forbes).. A bright saffron-
yellow variety occurs at Bergen (D. & K.) and Shetlands {Norman), which is a thickarmed
deep-water form; and it is also on record that the same form was taken off
Fife by Henry Goodsir. In the Asiatic specimens brought home by Yon MiddendorfFs
Expedition, bluish or purple tints seem to have prevailed on the dorsal side, the
underside varying from vermilion to flesh-colour (Brandt, Midd. Beise, p. 34).
Habitat.—From the shore to 175 fathoms depth—a specimen being taken at this
last-named depth off Hare Island, Waigat Strait, during the ‘ Valorous ’ Expedition.
Premature Form.—In young examples the length of the ray is much less in proportion
to the disk than in the adult Starfish. The arms are also relatively wider at
the base, and taper more rapidly to the extremity. The spinulation of the dorsal surface
is very delicate, in fact almost microscopic, and the ossicles bear fewer spinelets,
which are associated in more compact groups. The ventro-lateral series are more
distinctly defined from the rest of the spinulation than at a greater age, two to four
lateral rows, in addition to the foot-papillae series, being clearly discernible. Seldom
more than a single papula is present in the interspaces of the dorsal network, and the
madreporiform body is more prominently covered with long spines.
F