Page:The aquarium - an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea.djvu/98

Rh than the former, being very difficult to keep alive; and also much more brittle: the former, notwithstanding their English name, I have not found so particularly fragile. Among other members of this wonderful class of animals, we obtained in the course of our day's work, several of that fine but common one, the Twelve-rayed Sun-star (Solaster papposa), a showy creature dressed in rich scarlet livery, some eight inches in diameter. Two or three of a species usually counted rare also occurred, the Bird's-foot (Palmipes membranaceus); more curious and equally beautiful. (See Plate III). It resembles a pentagonal piece of thin leather, with the angles a little produced and regularly pointed. The central part of this disk is scarlet, and a double line of scarlet proceeds from this to each angle, while the whole is margined by a narrow band of the same gorgeous hue. The remainder of the surface is of a pale yellow or cream-colour, and covered in the most elegant manner with tufts of minute spines arranged in lines, which cross each other, lozenge-fashion, near the middle of the disk, and run parallel to each other, at right angles to the margin, between the points.

Not less attractive was another Starfish, the Eyed Cribella (Cribella oculata). It consists of five finger-like rays, tapering to a blunt point, and cleft nearly to the centre; the consistence stiffly fleshy, or almost cartilaginous. The hue of both disk and rays, on the superior surface, is a fine rosy purple. (See Plate III.)

All these are very attractive occupants of an Aquarium. They are active and restless, though slow in