"Cont. à l'Étude anat. des Astérides," Arch. Zool. Exp. (2) v. bis, 1887, p. 104.
The analogy of Echinoidea (see p. [529]) might suggest that, like the lacteals in man, these strands were channels along which the products of digestion diffused outward. No connexion, however, between the oral ring and the alimentary canal has been made out, nor do there appear to be such strands developed in the proximity of the wall of the digestive tube. A connexion between the aboral ring and the rectum through a mesenteric cord has been asserted, but this is doubtful.
"Die Echinodermen des Golfes von Neapel," Fauna u. Flora G. von Neapel, xxiv. Monogr. 1897, pp. 349-351.
Ludwig, "Die Echinodermen des Golfes von Neapel," pp. 68, 69.
Ludwig, "Scientific Results of the Expedition of the 'Albatross' to the Tropical Pacific"—"Asteroidea," 1905, pp. 91, 103.