184 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



not stand the test of modern systematic methods. Instead of these two genera I 

 therefore proposed to recognize five great divisions, the families Comasteridae, 

 Zygometridae Hhnerometridae, Tropiometridae, and Thalassometridae, which 

 covered exactly the same ground except that the number of included species was 

 nearly, if not quite, doubled. I remarked that each of these families appeared to me 

 to be separated from the others by characters of just as great importance as those 

 separating the Comasteridae (the old genus Actinometra) from any one of them. 

 In the same paper I noted that in the species of Himerometridae the mouth is often 

 more or less eccentric. 



In a paper on new recent Indian crinoids published on June 25, 1909, 1 used the 

 family name Colobometridae as a heading under which two new species of Cenometra 

 (herdmani and insueta) and one of Cyllometra (soluta) were described, thus restricting 

 the family Himerometridae by the removal of Cenometra, Cyllometra, and Colobometra, 

 and also Oligometra, although the last was not mentioned. 



In a paper published on September 14, 1909, 1 still further restricted the family 

 Himerometridae by removing the genus Pontiometra to the new family Pontiome- 

 tridae. At the same tune I divided the family Himerometridae into three subfamilies, 

 Himeroinetrinae, including the genera Amphimetra, Himerometra, Craspedometra, and 

 Heterometra; Stephanometrinae, including the genus Stephanometra; and Mariame- 

 trinae, including the genera Mariametra and Dichrometra. 



In a paper on the recent crinoids of Australia published on August 17, 1911,1 

 said that recent discoveries have shown that the Zygometridae are not nearly so 

 sharply differentiated from the Himerometridae as was previously supposed, and it 

 has therefore seemed best to discard the latter family altogether, raising the three 

 subfamilies previously included within it to family rank. The three families into 

 which the Himerometridae are divided are the Himerometridae, Stephanometridae, 

 and Mariametridae. 



Since that time the family Himerometridae has remained unchanged. 



The group now known as the family Himerometridae was somewhat indefinitely 

 indicated by Dr. P. H. Carpenter in 1882 as the Savignyii group of Antedon. In 

 Carpenter's report on the Challenger comatulids published in 1888 the Savignyi group 

 is essentially the equivalent of the family Hhnerometridae, except for the inclusion of 

 Antedon (Adelometra) angustiradia. But the 10-armed species, and 10-armed individuals 

 of multibrachiate species, are included in the Milberti group. Thus the species of 

 Amphimetra are assigned to the Milberti group, and Antedon anceps (= Heterometra 

 quinduplicava) and Antedon variipinna (= Heterometra crenulata) occur both in the 

 Milberti and in the Savignyi groups. One species, Antedon (Homalometra) denticulata 

 was placed by Carpenter in the Basicurva group, and another, Antedon clemens 

 (= Heterometra quinduplicava), in the Palmata group. 



KEY TO THE GENERA OF THE FAMILY HIMEROMETRIDAE 



a 1 . PD and PI longer and stouter than P 2 , which in turn is longer and stouter than P 3 ; division series 

 strongly rounded dorsally and well separated; usually more than 25 arms; the IIIBr series are 

 usually 4(3+4) on the outer side of each IIBr series and 2 on the inner side (Philippine Islands 

 and Macclesfield Bank southward to Admiralty Islands, Great Barrier Reef, and Kei 



Islands, and westward to Maldive Archipelago and Persian Gulf; 0-57 [766] meters) 



Himerometra (p. 185) 



