364 VERRILL 



This is a large species with short, stout rays, from the Gulf San 

 Mathias, E. Patagonia. 



Perknaster densus Sladen. Off Kerguelen Island; 127 fathoms. 

 P. fuscus Sladen. Off Heard Island and Kerguelen Island ; 25 to 

 75 fathoms. 



The family Acanthasteridae, pertaining almost entirely to tropical 

 seas, and always rather rare, is said to be represented by a species in 

 the Magellan Straits, but the only record seems to be an ancient one 

 and may not be reliable. It has not been found there by any recent 

 expedition. 



Acanthaster Solaris (Schr.) Duj. et Hupe (pars) was described by 

 Gray, 1866 (as Echinaster solans), from this region, but apparently 

 without any modern record. According to him, it has twenty-one 

 rays and ten madreporic plates. Duj. and Hupe united all the known 

 species under this name. 



A. ellisii (Gray) occurs in the Panamic fauna. It usually has from 

 eleven to thirteen rays. 



The oldest known species, A. planci (Linne, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 

 Appendix, p. 823, as Asterias planci}, occurs apparently throughout 

 most of the Indo-Pacific Oceans, in the tropical zone. The type was 

 described by Linne as having fifteen rays. It came from Goa, Por- 

 tuguese India, and the figure of Columna ( Phytobasanos, pi. xxxm, 

 fig. A) was referred to as its basis. The figure is characteristic and 

 the name should be adopted. It is the same as A. echinus (Ellis 

 and Sol.) =A. echinites of Lam. and of many recent writers. 



The number of rays and madreporic plates is variable. Usually 

 there are from fifteen to twenty very spinose rays. 



The family Asterinidse is unusually well represented. On the 

 coast of Peru and southward Patiria chilensis (Liitken) and P. gayi 

 (Perrier) are recorded. They are closely related and probably not 

 dinstinct species; also, Patiriella calcarata (Perrier) and P. pusilla 

 (Perrier). Desmopatiria fiexilis Verrill probably occurs on the 

 same coast, but its origin is not positively known. 



Farther south, on the coasts of Chile and Magellan Strait, and 

 around Tierra del Fuego to Cape Horn, the very common, small, lit- 

 toral and shallow- water species is Patiriella, fimbriata (Perrier) or 

 P. bispinosa (Perrier), if the latter, a supposed variety, proves to 

 be distinct. 



P. fimbriata, as originally described, was labelled as from Bourbon 

 Island, but Perrier himself expressed doubt as to whether the locality 

 labels were correct, owing to the close agreement with specimens 

 from Chile. 



