A MONOGRAPH OF THE EXISTING CRINOIDS 585 



individuals, as he suspected, from what he had seen of the smaller specimens that 

 had reached him, that the cirri would exhibit an interesting dimorphism. 



History. This species was originally described by Johannes M tiller in 1846 from 

 a small specimen from King Georges Port (now Albany), Western Australia, which 

 had been collected in 1829 by Quoy and Gaimard and deposited in the Paris Museum. 

 Muller found it bearing the manuscript name Comatula trichoptera given it by Valen- 

 ciennes, and under this name he described it. Mtiller redescribed the species in 

 1849, and in 1862 Dujardin and Hup6 published a translation of his description 

 without comment. 



In 1879 Dr. P. H. Carpenter, after an examination of the 2 specimens in the 

 Paris Museum, assigned trichoptera to Actinometra and remarked that, as the disk 

 of the types can be readily examined, he believed Muller did not allocate the species 

 more precisely for the reason that he was unable to decide whether it should be 

 referred to Alecto or to Actinometra, for in 1 of the 2 specimens at Paris 5 groove 

 trunks start from the excentric peristome, while in the other there are only 4. 



In another contribution published in 1879 Carpenter listed this species as having 

 been secured by the Challenger. 



In 1882 Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell published a specific formula for this form, and early 

 in the following year Carpenter published a revised formula. 



In the Challenger report upon the comatulids, published in 1888, Carpenter 

 redescribed this species on the basis of a single specimen secured by the Challenger 

 at Port Jackson and others from Port Phillip. 



In 1888 Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell recorded specimens of this species which had from 

 time to time been sent to the British Museum from Port Phillip, Victoria, by Mr. 

 J. Bracebridge Wilson, and in 1889 Mr. Thomas Wliitelegge recorded it from Watsons 

 Bay, near Sydney, New South Wales, and gave notes on the manner of its occurrence 

 there. 



Dr. P. H. Carpenter in 1890 recorded specimens from Port Phillip which he had 

 identified for the Port Phillip Biological Survey Committee. They had been dredged 

 by Mr. J. Bracebridge Wilson in the outer harbor at Port Phillip and outside the 

 Heads in the summer of 1887-88. The specimens referred to in this paper furnished 

 the basis for the insertion of " Port Philip " among the localities given in the Cluillenger 

 report. 



In 1911 I mentioned having examined one of the specimens collected at King 

 Georges Port (or Sound) by Quoy and Gaimard in 1829. In a memoir on the crinoids 

 of Western Australia published in 1911 I recorded specimens from Koombana Bay, 

 and gave a summary of its occurrence on the Western Australian coasts. In a 

 monograph on the crinoids of Australia, which was also published in 1911, I recorded 

 numerous specimens from various localities in southeastern Australia, and gave a 

 general account of the species. In a memoir on the crinoids of Africa published in 

 the same year I pointed out the close relationship between this species and the South 

 African C. wahlbergii. 



In 1912 Dr. Clemens Hartlaub recorded and described a specimen supposedly 

 of trichoptera from Yeddo (Tokyo) Bay, Japan. In reality it represents C. japonica. 



