88 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The Capillasterinae are remarkable for great diversity in size, in arm structure, 

 and in the position of the mouth, and at the same time for a minimum of diversity 

 in the structure of the cirri, which organs are, with only a single exception, present. 

 They have much the greatest range geographical, bathymetrioal, and thermal of 

 all the comasterid groups, and include nearly all the comasterid species found below 

 the sublittoral zone. 



In the diversity and often extraordinary variability of their arm structure, and 

 in the relative constancy of their cirrus structure, the Capillasterinae suggest the 

 pentacrinites more strongly than do any of the other comatulids. 



It is possible to regard the Capillasterinae as suggesting, especially in the small 

 10-armed genera, the generalized type from which the other comasterids were derived. 



History. The subfamily Capillasterinae was established in 1909 to include the 

 genera Nemaster, Capillaster, Neocomatella, Comatella, Comatilia, Leptonemaster, and 

 Comissia. The genera PalaeocomateUa, Comatonia, and Microcomatula have been 

 since described, and Comanthoides is described herein. 



Of the groups mentioned by Carpenter in the Challenger report (1888) the 

 Stelligera and Fimbriata groups fall within the Capillasterinae. A species mentioned 

 by him as belonging to the Paucicirra group (included in the Comactiniinae), and 

 subsequently (1889) described as Actinometra notata (= Comatella stelligera), also 

 belongs here. In addition, under "Actinometra, Series II," which includes the 

 Echinoptera group only, Carpenter refers to certain 10-armed species of Capillasteri- 

 nae, though without mentioning any names, and he also placed here certain speci- 

 mens of Neocomatella pulchella, other specimens of the same species being referred to 

 the Stelligera group. 



KEY TO THE GENERA OF THE SUBFAMILY CAPILLASTERINAE 



a 1 . More than 10 arms. 



6'. Outer cirrus segments more or less sharply carinate dorsally, the dorsal processes median 



spines or tubercles or a tubercular or spinous V-shaped elevation with a sharp median apex. 



c 1 . First pinnule of the undivided arms on the second brachial; all the division series 2; the 



first syzygy is between brachials 1 + 2 except on the outermost arms of each ray, where 



it is between brachials 3 + 4; but often on these outermost arms there is also a syzygy 



between brachials 1 + 2; never a syzygy between brachials 2 + 3. 



d l . Brachials beyond the basal wedge-shaped and broader than long (Salomon, Coin Peros, 

 the Maldive Islands, and Ceylon to the Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia, Torres 

 Straits, New Caledonia, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, the Bouin Islands, southwestern Japan, 



the Philippines, and Macclesfield Bank; 0-210 meters) Comatella, p. 89. 



d 2 . Brachials beyond the basal triangular, about as long as broad. 



e 1 . Centrodorsal of moderate size, with the cirri arranged in very irregular rows (St. Paul's 

 rocks northward throughout the Caribbean Sea to the Dry Tortugas and the 

 Bahamas; Canary Islands to Brittany; 13-1,710 meters) .. Neocomatella, p. 122. 

 e 2 . Centrodorsal large with the cirri arranged more or less in 25 closely crowded and irreg- 

 ular columns, usually of 2 each (Kei and Philippine Islands; 256-275 meters). 



PalaeocomateUa, p. 153. 



c 2 . First pinnule of the undivided arms on the first brachial; IIBr series 4 (3 + 4) and following 

 division series 3 (2 + 3); division series occasionally very irregular; always a syzygy, in 

 arms arising from a IIBr or later axillary, between brachials 2 + 3. 



il [ . Brachials much broader than long, oblong or wedge-shaped (Madagascar, Mauritius, 

 the Maldive Islands, and Ceylon to tropical Australia, the Caroline Islands, south- 

 western Japan, the Philippines, and Formosa [Taiwan]; 0-292 meters). 



Capillaster, p. 156- 



