ASTERIADM. 



THE G1ISB0US STARLET. 



119 



GONIASTERIM. 



Genus, Asterina. Nardo. 



Generic Character. — Body pentagonal, gibbous, thick, covered above and 

 below with short spines ; avenues bordered by a single row of spines ; suckers 

 biserial. 



THE GIBBOUS STARLET. 



Asterina gibbosa. Pennant. 



Specific Character, — Dorsal spines short, thick, arranged in pairs ; spines 

 beneath in regular rows. 



Pentaceros plicaius, Link, t. xxxvi. No. 62. Borlase, Cornwall, p. 260, 



t. xxv. f. 25, 26. 

 Stellula Jdbernica glabra, Petiver, Gaz. t. xvi. f. 8. 

 Asterias gibbosa, Pennant, Brit. Zool. IV. p. 62, No. 59. 



Asterias exigua, Lamarck, 1 Edit. vol. II. p. 554; 2 Edit. vol. III. 



p. 241. 

 Asterias minuta, Blainville, Man. d'Actin. p. 238. 



Asterina minuta, Nardo. Agassiz, Prod. 



Asterina gibbosa, Forbes, Wern. Mem. VIII. p. 120. 



The Asterina gibbosa is the least of the British Asteriadae. 

 Large specimens measure only an inch across. The body 

 is pentangular, with the angles produced. It is very 

 gibbous. Above, it is covered with tufts of short thick 



