360 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



In 1912 I published notes on the specimens in the Berlin Museum, including the 

 type of Comatula cumingii, and also gave a detailed account of the species in my mem- 

 oir on the crinoids of the Indian Ocean. 



In 1913 I published an account of the specimens in the British Museum, includ- 

 ing a redetermination of all the material previously noticed by Bell, and in 1915 I 

 again discussed the distribution of this form on the Australian coasts. 



Dr. Hubert Lyman Clark in 1915 recorded this form from Mer, where it was 

 decidedly uncommon though several specimens were taken, and also recorded a 

 single example from Friday Island. In another paper he listed it from Ceylon on the 

 strength of an indefinite record in my memoir on the crinoids of the Indian Ocean 

 (1912). 



In 1918 I recorded and gave notes upon specimens from 13 additional localities 

 where they had been dredged by the Siboga. 



In 1919 Dr. Torsten Gislen recorded and published notes upon specimens from a 

 number of localities in northwestern Australia where they had been collected by Dr. 

 Eric Mjoberg. In this memoir he gave reasons for regarding purpurea as merely 

 a variety of pectinata. 



In 1921 Dr. H. L. Clark republished his records of this species from Torres 

 Straits and discussed the significance of its distribution in Australia. In 1923 he 

 recorded the species from two localities in the Abrolhos Islands, giving notes on the 

 specimens. He was inclined to agree with Gislen that the differences between pec- 

 tinata and purpurea are certainly not specific. 



In 1924 Gislen published various notes on the structure of this species. 



COMATULA PURPUREA (J. Miiller) 



Plate 39, Figures 108, 109; Plate 40, Figure 111; Plate 41, Figure 114 



[See also part 1, fig. 38 (syzygy), p. 75; fig. 79 (type specimen), p. 132; part 2, figs. 406-409 (pinnule 

 tips), p. 250; figs. 622-625 (comb), p. 319; figs. 661, 662 (syzygy), p. 329] 



Alecto purpurea 3. MILLER, Archiv f. Naturgesch., 1843, vol. 1, p. 132 (description; New Holland); 

 Abhandl. d. k. preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., 1847, 1849, p. 249 (perhaps young of Solaris). P. H. 

 CARPENTER, Challenger Reports, Zoology, vol. 26, pt. 60, 1888, p. 278 (probably a synonym of 

 pectinata). A. H. CLARK, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 23, 1910, p. 95 (redescribed from the 

 type specimen and reinstated as a valid species of Comatula near C. pectinata); fig. p. 97; 

 Die Fauna Sudwest-Australiens, vol. 3, Lief. 13, 1911, p. 436 (history); p. 437 (northwest 

 Australia, 20-36 fathoms; identification); Memoirs Australian Mus., vol. 4, pt. 15, 1911, p. 711 

 (history; distinct from Asterias pectinata); Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 43, 1912, p. 383 (identity). 



Comatula purpurea DDJARDIN and HUPE, Hist. nat. des zoophytes, Echinodermes, 1862, p. 202 

 (synonymy; description; Australia). P. H. CARPENTER, Trans. Linn. Soc. (Zool.), ser. 2, vol. 2, 

 1879, p. 27 (systematic position; probably a true Actinomeira) . A. H. CLARK, Proc. Biol. 

 Soc. Washington, vol. 23, 1910, p. 96 (redescription of the type specimen from New Holland- 

 recorded from Queensland [in reality Comanthus parvicirra]; relationships with C. pectinala) 

 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 39, 1911, p. 532 (arrangement of the cirri compared with that of 

 C. pectinata); Bull, du mus. d'hist. nat., Paris, 1911, No. 4, p. 247 (no locality; 1 specimen in 

 the Paris Mus.) ; Die Fauna Sudwest-Australiens, vol. 3, Lief. 13, 1911, p. 440 (Australian tropi- 

 cal species occurring south to Port Denison and Perth); p. 443 (range on east coast); p. 444 

 (range on west coast); p. 451 (localities; summary of previous localities; descriptions of speci- 

 mens); p. 465 (association with other species); Memoirs Australian Mus., vol. 4, pt. 15, 1911, 

 p. 717 (known to Carpenter from Australia); p. 718 (?recorded by Hartlaub, 1891, as Actino- 





