170 COLLECTIONS FROM MELANESIA.
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The first four or five brachials have the sides prettj’ even, the
succeeding are verj’ distinctlj- -wedge-shaped, and the distal edge
becomes faintly denticulated. Further out the wedge becomes wider,
and the denticulation disappears.
Syzygies 3, 10, 14 ; then about three joints between each. The
pinnules generally are delicate and short, the first rather the
longest.
Arms not very long, thin ; cirri about 10 mm. lo n g ; dish as much
as 30 mm. in diameter, owing to the extensive development of the
interradial plating which extends to the distichal axillaries.
Colour yellowish green with darker spots, patches, or lin es; the
ends of the arms and the lower surface darker, or the upper surface
may he of a pale flesh-colour.
Thursday Island.
28. Actinometra, sp. juv.
I t is very possible th at a young specimen from Dundas Strait belongs
to a species, A. purpurea, of which a single example is alone
known ; and that, as 5lr. Carpenter informs me, is in rather bad
condition. I t is to be hoped th a t further exploration will result
in the discovery of more representatives of this incompletely known
form.
G e n e r a l R em a r k s on D i s t r ib u t io n .
After concluding the survey of the Echinoderms collected in the
Australian seas by Dr. Coppinger, I arrived at certain results, which
it is unnecessary now to state ; for my views have since been profoundly
modified by what I have since learnt from a closer study of
the marine fauna of Port Jackson than was possible with the comparatively
scanty material th at was in my hands two years ago, when
the body of this Eeport was being framed.
I have learnt since, thanks to the opportunities afforded me by
arrangements made with Mr. E. P. Ramsay, the Curator of the
Australian Museum, Sydney, what are the characters of the Port-
Jackson fauna, and what is the extent of its resemblance to that
of Port Molle and Torres Straits.
I have, in the first place, learnt th at no view can be more erroneous
than one which speaks of an Australian (marine) fauna without
some sort of qualification ; Cape York and Port MoUe are as much
p a rt of Australia as Port Jackson, but between the two faunte the
resemblance is as slight as is in the nature of things possible.
This statement is abundantly proved by the first two tables of
distribution which I now give, and which are based on the 27 Echi-
nids and 16 Ophiurids from the coUection of the Sydney Museum.
T a b l e I .—Echinoidea of Australian Museum, Sydney.
South of
the
tropics.
Intertropical
species.
1. Phyllacanthus parvispinus.................................. *
2.
Goniocidaris tubaria .........................................
3.
----- geranoides ....................................................
**
4. Diadema setosum..................................................
5. Centrostephanus roclgersi ..................................
6. Echiuothrix calamaria.......................................... 44
7.
Salmacis alexandri ........ .. . A
8.
----- hicolor . . . . 44
9. ----- sulcata .......................................................... 44
10. ------dussumieri ..................................... 44
11. Amblypneustes o-zum .......................................... *
12. ------------ ST if
D.............................................................................
13.
Strongylocentrotus erythrogrammus................... A
14. ----- tuberculatus.................................................... o
1.5. Sphærechinus australi® .......................................
16. Echinostrephus molare ....................................... oo
17. Ecbinometra lucunter........................................... A
18. Heterocentrotus mammillatus ........................... 44
19. Echinanthus testudinarius.................................. * 44
20. Laganum O decagonale , . O .........................................
.......................................... 44
21.
. peronii.....................
22. Arachnoïdes placenta........................................... 44
23. Maretia planulata .............................................. A
24. Lovenia elongata.................................................. A
2.5. Bre-vnia anstralasise............................................... o A
26. Ecbinocardium australe................................... A
27. Hemiaster apicatus.......................................
T a b l e I I .—Ophiuroidea of Australian Museum, Sydney.
1. Pectinura stellata ..................... ....... 4^
2. ----- g orgonia ............................................ A
3. Ophioj
docus imbricatus .....................
Onhioe
4. rlynha multisnina..............................
5. Ophiactis resiliens .......................................
6. Amphiura constricta ....................................
7. Ophionereis schayeri ...............................
8. Ophiocoma scolopendrina .............................
9. ----- erinaceus..... .............. AA
10. Ophiarthrum elegans .................................
11. Ophiothrix longipeda ........................ «■
12. ----- coespitosa......................................... A
13. ----- fumaria .....................................
14. ----- sn.............................. ........ A
AA
15. ----- s
10. EuryaLe aspera........................................ A
0 means that the species is, in this collection, known only from Lord Howe’s
Island ; A, that tho ‘ Alert ’ found the species within the tropics.
1 Eeported by Agassiz from New Caledonia; = from the Mauritius; ® from
the Philippines. di (