ECHINOIDEA. I. 



*5 



thinks that they often give excellent specific characters, but lie was disappointed in ihrer erhofften 

 Verwendbarkeit zur Unterscheidung uatiirlicher Gruppen innerhalb der Familie (p. i). Nur mit 

 grosser Vorsicht diirfen Pedicellarien als systematische Merkmale bei den Cidariden beniitzt werden . 

 Tlie small pedicellariae are highly similar in almost all species, but they may vary very much in the 

 separate individuals. (Only the form with a long terminal hook, occurring in Goniocidaris mikado and 

 clvpcata, is especially mentioned). The tridentate ones (■ loffelartige Form ) are better, but they are 

 also highly varying in the separate individuals. Most applicable for the classification is the thick- 

 headed form, (the large, globiferous pedicellariae); it is highly constant in form and size, and shows 

 many peculiarities, <die sehr wohl einzelne Arten, manchmal audi Gruppen charakterisiren kdnnen . 

 He also tries to group the species according to these peculiarities, without, however, attributing to 

 them any great systematic importance, and therefore he does not mention the pedicellariae in his 

 diagnoses of genera. The fact is that also this form of pedicellariae shows some variability, is some- 

 times even quite wanting in some individuals, so that it is no quite reliable character. An extra- 

 ordinary fact is «dass sehr ahnliche Formeu dieser Pedicellarien bei Arten vorkommen konneu, die 

 nach den iibrigen Charaktereu sehr wenig Verwandtschaft mit einander bekunden ( C. metularia and 

 vcrticillata). His final result is: In vielen Fallen hat nun ohne Frage die Vergleichung der Pedicel- 

 larien nicht geringen Werth fur die Systematik; sie geben jedenfalls sehr brauchbare Charaktere zur 

 Unterscheidung der Arten. — Zur Charakterisieruug von grosseren Gruppen innerhalb der Familie 

 fiude ich aber Pedicellarien sehr wenig verweudbar (p. 34). 



And so the last hope of finding good generic characters in the Cidarids seems to have vanished. 

 Fortunately, however, my researches have given another result than that of Doderlein, viz. that 

 the p e d i c e 1 1 a r i se y i e 1 d excellent generic characters, while they may o n 1 y more r a r e 1 y 

 be used for distinguishing between the species. This seems to be irreconcilable with the 

 above quoted statement of Doderlein that species not more nearly related, may have quite similar 

 pedicellariae. As instances are only named Cidaris metularia and vcrticillata. Now it is quite correct 

 that they have the same kind of pedicellariae; but then the question is whether the other characters, 

 in which the}- differ, are sufficient to show that they cannot belong to the same genus. The most 

 essential difference seems to be found in the spines, which are in C. vcrticillata provided with large 

 thorns placed in circles far from each other, while in C. metularia the spines have the whole surface 

 evenly set with homogeneous, small tubercles arranged in longitudinal series. Also with regard to 

 the provision of the interambulacral plates with miliary- tubercles a difference is found they are 



almost naked in C. vcrticillata , closely covered in C. metularia. As it has otherwise proved to be a 

 fact that the characters taken from the structure of the test have been anything but good as generic 

 characters, and as there seems to be nothing unnatural in the fact that spines as those in C. metu- 

 laria and vcrticillata are found ill species of the same genus, I cannot but regard the fact of the two 

 species having the same kind of (very characteristic) pedicellariae as proving them to be nearly related, 

 so that they will have to be regarded as not too closely allied species of the same genus. Besides 

 there is another species of the same genus presenting considerably more resemblance to C. vcrticillata 

 than the C. metularia mentioned by Doderlein. This is C.baculosa which is by Doderlein referred 



