I
li ' 1-
siil
Star-iishes and ophinrids were abundant chieily on
the tangdes; among the former several line species of
apparently nndescribed, although approaching
very closely forms from the seas of Shetland and
1‘teroe, and among tlie latter some remarkably large
exani])les ot Opliiomus'mm hjinavi.
A\e took here a second specimen of an irregulai-
sea-urchin Avhich we had found previously at Station
A I I I . oil Gomera Island in 000 fathoms, for which I
in-opose tlie name Aceste hellidifera (Fig. 05). This
J-ic:. g.K — Arcste U llk ilfr r a , Wvvii.Ln Thomson.
A. Ui.iMH'sm nmc; IJ. Uiulor surlace. Twice th e n a tu ra l size. (No. 44.)
appears to be one of a widespread and characteristic
deep-sea family to whicli Pourtalesia belongs. As
pointed out by^ Professor Alexander Agassiz, this
family is certainly allied in many respects to the
AnanchytidcB; but there are important points of
divergence, and ivlien ive have had an opportunity of
comparing them carefully, it may possibly be necessary
to detine a new family for the reception of a considerable
number of kindred forms. In the present species
the test is oval and dejoressed. The apex, n lth the
madreporic tubercle, and two very large ovarial
ojienings, is on the doi’sal surface near the posterior extremity
; the mouth is rounded or somewhat irregular
in form, and is at the bottom of a deep anterior
groove ; aud nearly the whole of the dorsal surface is
occu|'ied by a depression beneath which the anterior
I'To. !Hi.—Accsle h e llidifera, W v v ille Thom.son. In n e r surface of the test. Twice tlie
natural size. (No. 44.)
ambulacral canal runs, sending up through a petaloid
ari-angement of two double rmvs of pores, two series
of tube-feet with very large flower-like terminal disks,
the disks supported by an elegant star of calcified
tissue. The four paired ambulacra are slightly
marked compared with the odd ambulacrum, a
slender tuhe running under the ranges of ambulacral
plates and giving otf simple processes to single pores.