Note 2 — LECTURE XXI

I see now that there are contradictory statements in regard to this case. Possibly these depend on the different behaviour of different species, and this on the varying frequency of mutilation. Starfishes which live on the shore between the rocks, for instance on the movable stones of a breakwater, are very frequently mutilated; in some places it is rare to find a specimen without traces of former wounds. H. D. King counted among 1,914 specimens of Asterias vulgaris 206 in the act of regenerating a part, that is, 10.76 per cent. In the case of the starfishes from deep water this cause of injury does not of course exist.