The crinoids are inhabitants of deep water, where they grow in great numbers, forming beds of sea-lilies. Their general form, which suggests the lily, and their feather-like manner of branching, give them the two common names of sea-lilies and sea-feathers. They have a long, jointed stalk, one end of which is attached, while the other bears the disk of the animal. From the disk emanate five arms, which divide near the base, making [pg235] ten arms in all. The arms have short branches along the sides. Ambulacral grooves follow the center of all the arms and branches. The mouth is in the center of the upper side, which in this case is the ventral surface. The genus ^Pentacrinus^ remains permanently attached, but ^Comatula^, at a certain stage of development, separates from the stalk and swims freely about by means of its arms. It can attach itself temporarily by tubular processes, which are developed on the dorsal surface at the point where the stem was attached. The ossicles, or plates which cover the dorsal surface, are free, making the crinoid an animal of innumerable joints. [Illustration: /Pentacrinus asteria./] The crinoids are particularly interesting from the fact that they have existed from early geologic times, and their history is written in stone. In the early ages they were the only class of echinoderms, and their evolution into other forms can be traced through successive geologic periods. They existed in such vast numbers that the fossil forms are plentiful and are familiar to every student of geology, and are known as stone-lilies and encrinites. To-day they are decadent, there now remaining only twelve of the two hundred genera which existed formerly. A fine bed of crinoids is found off Cuba, on the slope of the coast where the water rapidly deepens from one hundred to two hundred fathoms. [pg236] Although the crinoids are deep-water forms, and are never found on the beach, they are given here because they follow in the system of classification and illustrate another curious class of echinoderms. The brief description given may add interest to the fossil forms to be seen in museums. VI ARTHROPODA TABLE SHOWING THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE ARTHROPODS DESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER Phylum =ARTHROPODA= Class =CRUSTACEA= Subclass =Entomostraca= (/Crustacea of small, often of almost microscopic minuteness, and of comparatively simple organization; appendages have little differentiation/) Order =PHYLLOPODA= (/Appendages resemble leaves; mostly fresh-water species/) Suborder ~EUPHYLLOPODA~ (/Phyllopoda of considerable size, bearing ten to sixty pairs of leaf-like swimming-feet/)