116 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



bear prominent rather slender dorsal spines which in the outer part of the cirri become 

 more or less broadened laterally, forming short high transverse ridges or ending in a 

 more or less completely bifurcated tip. Toward the extremity of the cirri the dorsal 

 spines again resume their normal character. 



The other specimen is similar. There are about 40 arms. The 10 IIBr series 

 are 4 (3+4). Three of the IIIBr series are 2, the remainder being 4 (3+4). Two 

 IVBr series are present, one 2 and one 4 (3+4). The cirri are XXVIII, 33-35, 

 about 25 mm. long. 



Both of these specimens are dull pinkish with purple cirri, the earlier segments 

 of the latter with white borders and a white dorsal surface. Except for the greater 

 number of arms these specimens agree perfectly with a series at hand from Singapore 

 and the Philippines. 



The specimen from Hongkong collected by A. Wieler in 1888 has 20 arms and 

 seems not to differ from others from Singapore. 



Abnormal specimens. In one of the specimens from Singapore two of the IIBr 

 series consist of a single ossicle each, and in one from Jolo two of the IIBr series consist 

 of three ossicles. In a specimen from Hongkong the dorsal spines in the outer, but 

 not terminal, portion of the cirri are more or less broadened, forming a short high 

 transverse ridge or ending in a more or less completely bifurcated tip. 



Local variation. The smallest specimens, with 12-25 arms 40 to 70 mm. long and 

 the cirri with 25-30 segments, are from Singapore. But this does not necessarily 

 mean that this species does not reach a larger size there. It is quite possible that 

 all the specimens were collected in a restricted area where they never grow to full 

 size, or where at the time they happened to be all young. The specimens from the 

 Mergui Archipelago are essentially like those from Singapore. They rarely have more 

 than 30 arms, which are up to 100 mm. in length. 



The greatest arm length occurs in specimens from the Kei Islands and the 

 Moluccas, although here the number of arms is small. The arms are 22-26 in number, 

 reaching a length of 125 to 135 mm. The longest cirri, while they usually have 30 

 segments, may have as many as 35. 



As is commonly the case among the multibrachiate comatulids, the largest 

 number of arms is found in specimens from the Philippine Islands. Here the arms 

 vary from 20 to 41 in number, with a maximum length of 110 mm. The cirri may 

 have as many as 45 segments. In Philippine specimens the disk is less heavily plated 

 than in specimens from the Mergui Archipelago, and the sharp lateral flattening, or 

 "wall-sided" character, of the IIBr series is much more marked. Specimens from 

 Hongkong agree with those from the Philippines in having 38-40 arms and a maximum 

 of 36 cirrus segments. 



Localities. King Island, Mergui Archipelago ; Dr. John Anderson [P. H. Carpenter, 

 1888, 1889; Bell, 1888; A. H. Clark, 1911]. 



Eighty miles northwest of Penang; 73 meters; Eastern and Associated Telegraph 

 Co.'s cable-ship Patrol; taken in May 1923 from a cable laid 2 years previously [A. H. 

 Clark, 1929] (2, B. M.). 



Singapore; Svend Gad [A. H. Clark, 1909, 1911] (32, U. S. N. M., 36262, 36263, 

 E. 1076; C. M.). 



Singapore; 13 meters; December 12, 1898 [A. H. Clark, 1929] (1, B. M.). 



