382 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The color of typical specimens is white, or whitish with a tinge of brownish violet. 

 Hartlaub interpreted var. valida as a more robust representative of var. 



meridionalis. 



Transitional forms. Under the name of Actinometra echinoptera var. meridion- 

 alis-valida Hartlaub described a small number of specimens which he took for young 

 individuals of var. valida. They are all characterized by a white or very light color, 

 and most of them also by a relatively large centrodorsal and numerous cirri. 



Among them are 4 specimens from Blake station 272. The color of the arms is 

 light brownish, and they also resemble var. meridionalis in their slender arms. The 

 large white centrodorsal which bears numerous cirri, the close contact of the IBr 

 series, and the close approximation of the second brachials which are appressed 

 against each other, are all features which indicate their affinity with var. valida. 

 In 3 of them the syzygial pairs have the brevity characteristic of those of var. valida, 

 while in the fourth they are formed more as in var. meridionalis. The pinnule of the 

 sixth brachial has usually a short though prominent comb. 



Quite similar are 4 specimens from Blake station 157. Their color is the char- 

 acteristic white of var. valida, but in other respects they agree with var. meridionalis. 

 Except for the youngest, which agrees in size with the oldest example from Cape 

 Frio, they show a few of the characteristic features of var. valida. The brachials 

 remain triangular until far out on the arm, the IBri are in lateral contact, and the 

 second brachials of each arm pair are closely crowded against each other. 



The oldest of these 4 intermediate specimens has the size of a large specimen of 

 var. meridionalis (from Martinique or Charlotte Harbor). In contrast to the other 

 3 it has a relatively large centrodorsal. But it shows little, or none at all, of the close 

 apposition of the second brachials. Its brachials have the uniformly triangular shape 

 which is so characteristic of var. valida. 



A specimen from Grenada, in which unfortunately all the arms have been broken 

 off at the base, according to Hartlaub belongs here. The centrodorsal is sharply 

 pentagonal and the color is pure white. 



A specimen from which the label has been lost, although very pale, has the arm 

 color characteristic of many specimens of var. meridionalis, including 2 dorsal longi- 

 tudinal stripes. But in its whitish general coloration and in its relatively large 

 number of cirri it exhibits features characteristic of var. valida. In their considerable 

 length the syzygial pairs resemble most closely those of var. meridionalis. 



The large number of cirri is especially well shown in a much broken specimen 

 from Blake station 219. 



The type specimen of echinoptera. Muller described the type specimen of Alecto 

 echinoptera in the following terms. The centrodorsal is flat, with the larger central 

 portion free of cirri. The cirri are XX, 11, with the segments laterally compressed. 

 The 10 arms are 108 mm. in length. At the base of the arms the brachials are feebly 

 imbricated. The intersyzygial interval is from 3 to 6 muscular articulations. P t is 

 somewhat larger than those succeeding. The 7 last segments of the pinnules at the 

 base of the arms have long high keels on the dorsal side, which form a saw-like profile 

 (that is, a comb). The hinder portion of the third segment of PI has a strong process. 

 The disk is beset with individual scattered small hard cylindrical papillae (that is, 

 calcareous concretions). 



