A MONOGRAPH OF THE EXISTING CRINOIDS 



39 



In his preliminary report upon the comatulids collected by the United States Coast 

 urvey steamer Blake in 1878 and 1879, which was published in 1881 , Dr. Philip Herbert 

 Carpenter wrote that the two species which from their abundance appear to be especially 

 characteristic of the Caribbean Islands, ranging from Santa Cruz (St.Croix) to Grenada, 

 are an Antedon and an Actinometra, both of which had been obtained prior to the Blake 

 expedition. He said that in 1870 M.Duchaissaing had brought from Guadeloupe to the 

 Paris Museum a fine specimen of Antedon with 30 very spiny arms. Professor Perrier 

 having kindly permitted him to examine it and to make a note of its characters, he 

 readily recognized the species in the Blake collection, and proposed to call it Antedon 

 spinifera. Carpenter noted that it had been obtained by the Blake at 10 stations in 

 depths of from 80K to 297 fathoms. It was most abundant at station 269 in 124 fathoms 

 off St. Vincent, and he said that it was also dredged in 278 fathoms off St. Lucia by the 

 Investigator. He then described Antedon spinifera in considerable detail. The 

 Actinometra to which he referred was Neocomatella pulchella (see Part 3, p. 124). 

 Carpenter's mention of Santa Cruz was based upon Professor Oersted's specimen at 

 Copenhagen which he had examined, although he nowhere referred to it. 



In 1882 Prof. Francis Jeffrey Bell proposed a specific formula for this species, 

 which was criticized and emended by Carpenter early in 1883. 



Prof. Ludwig von Graff in 1883 described Myzostoma agassizii (see Part 2, p. 664) 

 including among the localities Blake stations 155 and 269 where he said the host was 

 apparently Antedon spinifera. 



In his report upon the stalked crinoids of the Challenger expedition published in 

 1884 Carpenter called attention to the fact that in certain recent pentacrinites, as 

 Endoxocrinus parrae ("mulleri"), Diplocrinus maclearanus, D. alternicirrus , and 

 Annacrinus wyvillethomsoni secondary and tertiary axillaries are limited to the outer 

 arms of each successive pair whereas Stylometra spinifera often shows exactly the 

 reverse condition to this, the IIIBr axillaries being frequently developed only on the 

 inner pair of the four secondary arms. 



In 1884 Professor von Graff described Myzostomum pictum from Blake station 157, 

 the host being probable Stylometra spinifera (see Part 2, p. 663), and gave this species 

 as the probable host of Alzyostomum agassizii from Blake stations 155 and 269. 



In 1884 William Neale Lockington gave an account of the occurrence of this 

 species and Actinometra (Neocomatella) pulchella in the Caribbean region taken from 

 the notes published by Carpenter in 1881. 



In the Challenger report on the comatulids published in 1888 this species was not 

 treated in detail as it was not secured by the Challenger, but various notes on it were 

 given. Carpenter pointed out that it not infrequently has exactly 30 arms owing to the 

 presence of IIIBr axillaries on the inner pair of every four secondary arms, and that 

 occasionally IVBr series are present. He made it the type of the Spinifera group the 

 members of which he characterized as "Bidistichate species with the radial axillaries 

 [IBr 3 ] and some of the following joints more or less wall-sided, and a well-marked 

 ambulacral skeleton on the pinnules." He compared Antedon spinifera in detail with 

 his new species Antedon (Stenometra) quinquecostata, and in much less detail with A, 

 (Stiremetra) lusitanica. The range of Antedon spinifera was given as the Caribbean 

 Islands in 80-297 fathoms. 



