The Echinoderm Fauna of Sotith Africa. 295 



Key to the South African Species of Solasteridae. 



Rays 8 10 ..... Crossaster penicillatus. 



Kays 5 .... . Lophaster quadrispinus. 



CROSSASTER PENICILLATUS. 

 Slu<ten,1889. CHALLENGER Ast., p. 440; pis. 70, fig. 5 and 72, figs. 9, 10. 



Althnugh the largest of these individuals is much larger than Sladen's 

 types, and has the rays relatively much more slender than in his 

 figure, there is no reason to doubt their identity. Bell (1905) lists 

 this species from half a dozen stations but gives no data whatever 

 about the specimens. In the present collection, only two extremes 

 of age are represented, young ones with R = 10-15 mm. and big 

 adults with R = 55-60 mm. It is very interesting to find that of 

 the ten young, two have only 8 rays and eight have 9, while of the 

 five adults, only one has 9 rays and four have 10. This suggests 

 that 10 is the normal number of rays in the species and that smaller 

 numbers are growth-stages. 



P.F. 17965. Cape Point, N. 41 E., 38 miles. 315-400 fms. S., 

 bl. sp. 10 specimens; young. 



P.F. 18206. Cape Point, N.N.E. '/4 E., 14 miles. 100 fms. Gn. m. 

 5 specimens ; adult. 



LOPHASTER QUADRISPINUS *, sp. nov. 

 Plate XVIII. Figs. 1, 2. 



R = 70 mm. ; r = 20 mm. ; R = 3-5 r ; br = 20 mm. Disk rather 

 large, flat but quite high (v. d. = 10 mm.) Rays 5, rather flat, 

 tapering steadily to the pointed tip. Abactinal skeleton with rather 

 small meshes, the papular areas usually with only 3-5 papulae. 

 Paxillae relatively few and widely spaced, the distance between two 

 about equal to height of column; each paxilla bears a tuft of 10-12, 

 or more, long, slender spines, about equal to the column. Madre- 

 porite large, about 3 mm. across, nearer to center of disk than to 

 margin. Marginal plates about 23 in each series, the superomarginals 

 above and not alternating with, the lower series. Marginal paxillae 

 similar to the abactinal but abruptly much larger and correspondingly 

 conspicuous. 



Actinal interradial areas fairly well developed ; a series of actino- 

 lateral plates adjoining the adambulacrals, 25 30 in number, extends 



* Quadrispinus =r having four spines; in reference to the furrow series of the 

 adambulacral armature. 



