296 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Diagnosis. A genus of Comactiniinae including species in which the cirri are 

 composed of more than 30 short segments, all of which, except the penultimate, are 

 twice as broad as long or even broader. The 10 arms are short and broad. Stout 

 ungrooved pinnules capable of being coiled dorsally occur at intervals among the 

 distal pinnules. 



Geographical range. Southwestern and southern Australia, from Perth, Western 

 Australia, to Port Phillip, Victoria. 



Bathymetrical range. From the shore line down to 18 meters. 



Remarks. This is the only crinoid type in which numerous pinnules are modified 

 into grasping organs serving to supplement the cirri and the only recent type in 

 which there is a definite suggestion of a biserial arrangement of the brachials. The 

 very short jointed cirri are unique in the Comasteridae, though more or less similar 



cirri are found in various genera in other oligophreate families. 







COMATULELLA BRACHIOLATA (Lamarck) 



Plate 31, Figures 93, 94; Plate 32, Figures 95-97 

 [See also vol. 1, pt. 1, fig. 77 (dorsal view), p. 130; pt. 2, pi. 50, fig. 1332 (dorsal view)] 



Comatuia brachiolala LAMARCK, Hist. nat. des animaux sans vertebres, vol. 2, 1816, p. 535 (descrip- 

 tion; ?Atlantic Ocean). DE BLAINVILLE, Diet. des. sci. nat., vol. 10, 1818, p. 108 (after 

 Lamarck). LAMOUROUX, Encyclop. me'thodique, vol. 2, 1824, p. 206 (after Lamarck). DE 

 BLAINVILLE, Diet, des sci. nat., vol. 60, 1830, p. 229 (after Lamarck); Manuel d'actinologie, 

 1834, 1836, p. 249 (after Lamarck). DCJARDIN, in DESHAYES and MILNE-EDWARDS, Hist, 

 nat. des animaux sans vertebres, ed. 3, vol. 1, 1837, p. 471 (from Lamarck). DESHAYES and 

 MILNE-EDWARDS Hist. nat. des animaux sans vertebres, ed. 2. vol. 3, 1840, p. 211 (after 

 Lamarck). J. MULLER, Abhandl. d. k. preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., 1847, 1849, p. 249. DUJARDIN 

 and HUPE, Hist. nat. des zoophytes, Echinodermes, 1862, p. 201 (synonymy; description; 

 ?Atlantic Ocean). P. H. CARPENTER, Trans. Linn. Soc. (ZDol.), ser. 2, vol. 2, 1879, p. 5 (mouth 

 excentric or even marginal); Journ. Linn. Soc. (Zool.), vcl. 16, 1882, p. 517. A. H. CLARK, 

 Vidensk. Medd. fra den naturhist. Forening i K0benhavn, 1909, p. 150 (not known to occur 

 with more than 10 arms); Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 40, 1911, p. 18 (arms compared with 

 those of Comanthus wahlbergii) ; Bull, du mus. d'hist. nat., 1911, No. 4, p. 244 (=Comatula 

 brachiolata) ; p. 247 (= Alecto rosea: ?locality; types are 2 small specimens collected by Quoy 

 and Gaimard; description; recorded from Port Phillip); Die Fauna Sudwest-Australiens, vol. 

 3, Lief. 13, 1911, p. 435 (history); Memoirs Australian Mus., vol. 4, 1911, p. 710 (history); 

 p. 717 (known to Carpenter from Australia); p. 718 (recorded by Hartlaub, 1891); p. 722 

 (confined to south Australia; range); p. 733 (in key); p. 742 (annotated synonymy; charac- 

 ters; Port Phillip, King Georges Sound; a south Australian species; includes Alecto rosea); 

 Crinoids of the Indian Ocean, 1912, p. 30 (identity of the type and of M Oiler's record); p. 79 

 (synonymy; localities; discussion of synonyms) . 



Alecto brachiolata 3. MULLER, Archiv f. Naturgesch., 1841, vol. 1, p. 142 (after Lamarck); 1843, 

 vol. 1, p. 135 (redescribed). 



Alecto rosea 3. MULLER, Monatsber. d. k. preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., 1841, p. 206 (description; locality 

 unknown); Archiv. f. Naturgesch., 1841, vol. 1, p. 143 (same); 1843, vol. 1, p. 132 (New Hol- 

 land); Abhandl. d. k. preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., 1841, 1843, p. 206. BEYRICH, Abhandl. d. k. 

 preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., 1857, 1858, p. 16 (comparison of the union of the elements of the IBr 

 series with that in Encrinus). A. H. CLARK, Memoirs Australian Mus., vol. 4, 1911, p. 711 

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



Comatuia rosea 3. MULLER, Abhandl. d. k. preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., 1847, 1849, p. 250. DUJARDIN 

 and HUPE, Hist. nat. des zoophytes, Echinodermes, 1862, p. 201 (synonymy; description; 

 Australia). W. B. CARPENTER, Philos. Trans. Roy. Soc., vol. 156, 1866, p. 697 (distinct 

 from C. rosacea}. P. H. CARPENTER, Trans. Linn. Soc. (Zool.), ser. 2, vol. 2, 1879, p. 27 



