drefled: round with faurteenri fangs, fi'fiy fthe -baclois1’ round and
Convex, like. that.vofitheOreft;. thesxwhcfe tranfparCnt, •Moulfefs,
and cartilaginous and to diftfoguifh its from the reft, may be called
Urtka marina 'ex Thefe
five are defigned by the fcale; A A. >
-iB u tth em o ft beautiful dfthis kinch which I have mepwith, antfas
farvasiI eamlearn Has not beenv'yetdefcribed^fe^igOxVi. rb;p. 25$,
which, being large, isrhere defcribed by-.the lealey B B : ; It is all
of the moffpure oryftal jelly y. fome have a greenifh cafe; the margin.
is formed byditde' femicircular fangs about h a l f i n c h diameter,
and as much diftant from each other ; traiifpatent as the reft, i but
that at their very brim they are tipped with a verjr beautiful blue.
Four fcutcheon-like figures, e e, aptly joining! their bafe points,
forma flenderj^/car, in the form of a crofs at the^eentek J four
figures in the form of a heart, fill the vapaheies between the fides
of the, feutcheons; ; from the circumference of this compounded
«KCifea^proceed fixteen notched fangs, d dy contiguoils1t0;each other
a t their bafe; on the outfide df : which at
fcuteheons and the heart-like appendixes are inferted the legs or ten-,
cles in number v m ; they are here turned hack and -difplayed b. b$
thofe parts of the legs next the body (which is here marked -if&jjii ate
flat ; but what is next the eye is dhdded :into .three Made^ about
three quarters of an inch thick, jagged, carved, or furbelowed, at the
edges, but the lower part, f f , flattened like the blade of an oar, with
three angles for the better cutting the water, .as may heft be apprehended
from .the icon: between thefe legs are eight' cfefeeiit-like
mouths, a a, which have a bunch of jelly at their aperture tqwcdbfc
and open them ; all thefe mouths are inlets to. one-Common opening
which extends within the central nucleus,* making.- a circular
cavity, the dimenfions of which may heft be: feen at & e a, ittFig.
xvii. within this cavity are the inteftines, confifting of a continued
feries of gut, yellow without, fattened to the body by a corhmon
membrane of about three inches deep, on which the guts are dependant
: Fig* x v i i . reprefents the back of this creature with the legs
pendant, as Fig- xvi. reprefents the various imagery of the under
part. Till I am better informed of a name, I fhould* call this Ur tic a
marina oSlopedalis oSio faucibus et variis appendieibus ventralibus
dijiinBa. It was found on the fandy beach betwixt Penzance and
Marazion 1756.
Thefe creatures fwim obliquely, contra&ing alternately, and expanding
their brim and promoting their reft and motion by the legs
which they are fopplied with: their motion however cannot be'
fwift, which makes them an eafy and probably a nourifhing and
delicious prey to larger fifh; but they are fbmetimes eaten by man,
Rondeletius,
: Rondeletius, page 532 and 533, has given us.(but very different
from :.s|iy h erejgdpferi'bed.) {tt>WOefo£ ,t h &JJrbe^fihita&v-l whence they
arej copied into^Aldrovandu^sgsTables Svhi, de, Zoophytis, , Natural
Hittory, 'pageTk§7&nr§c*ae>; ea,llvtheui,BlQhber&^ the Comifh name
is
Of the Stelffimarina^m. ftar-fifh, Mr. Lhuyd- found - one' nearSteifeLri-
Peiizance, which bencaHs Beempeda-GomuUenfis.(Limbi %ibu]$& " ftar_
xxx.y$-^Nl- ax^)tf‘4i(.Thisdst v5e^.r$ras; foriiru £ 5ajjmwall itbis ,animal*
hasxgcnerally fife fiyo f | I tribe-we kavetWrfetfes, as. the
Fchinafter, Qtyfi&ella, QpmaQec^pjpntada&yla, eeBibata^Lmdii ‘f<
TM>.; iy^ N?.&,irui-Inj5,this. for^etbrifyesv^the^Uacb^e;high- and
fpiuous,;-. part ,©£©00- i&L d«?mot' mi%ke).'>ma.y fjo/e^ii. Rl®te p | §
Fig. xvxii. The following fix are of differenUpolours,- -thefcentral
Ioffes or jibtdi&Majrioufly embroidered-,-.'and the .raysr,^different
workmanfhip.
/rFtg-^iXv ibid* ist entire; th 6^ftmfcu%$y> Jfetik marina pe$%§..
tadaBjla exigua^ (uteen - P%iga?is>,pjfa;om, .th^i fea-ihqE& dfvLipdgvam;
the rays, when the ,fifh. was firfh-taken up, • extended figiytfochos »and
a half, were ftiff jj and, -round* ?but by the nextnfoJIiiig flattei^dank,
and enervated,oextendfogfFx- inches and a*half in. diameter;; in the
under part a -pentagonal;; mmkus. ^occupied v the .cKitrfe,:- frorn.. each
ao^e of wbieh branched; off a.«jidgetof -papilla pyramtddies, ;with
fharp horny p.oint% running nearly in the middfe of each ray j ’.the
ground-colour was; cfoetepu%ntc|i^ig to a
of a brick colour, the point of the rays a decp.ptirjdei; but when ,
dead, of: a brown yellow ;• on the- belly-part' eaehitd^fciPf the rays* •
had ftrong .hard bnftles fhootmg ’ tranfverfely-, between which, there
yvas a -.great numbe^of tranfparent, dfott,, flefhy tubes,2 or antennae
with fmall knobs;at the extremity, which .began to^'meve and exert
themfelvesjas fbon>as- thefifh was laid on its -back ; -with - itS';Fay&jdt
crawls lik^ a crab: the, uppermoft briftles of tfie rays.feem-defigoed.
for defence, and perhaps to aflift its motion; the-antepna^^!^
underpart (which ifc^oota forth ;aiid contrads like the\horns of a .
fhail) ^%ye, to move, it .to and fro (perhaps» tovfq^ftd.reach it?
prey), and fix it. alfo„tvhen andtwhere it>chufes to rettfo'
In Fig. xx. the light parts, are of a bright-yellow ©ere, the dark,
part brown-red, of different.^degrees, intermixed and .figured asun
the plate*- the rays three.inche%fong.
In Fig. xxi. the fibula is of-., ip; olive green of different, degrees;
the ftem of each ray is diftin^phhed by *a- lozenge, and .ftudded;
that is; divided into {quarts compartments, alternately red and Naples^,
yellow, twenty red fpotsin each ray ;s:the >r-ays ?,two; inches and a
half long. -
In Fig. xxii. the fibula is i of a black ftriped'With
leaves