REPORT ON THE ASTEROIDEA. 



123 



determination seems doubtful ; it is probably Archaster typicus. 1 

 The species, however, is stated by M. Perrier 2 to occur in the Philip- 

 pine Islands. 



Archaster typicus is found among the islands of the Eastern 

 Archipelago, from the Philippine and Pelew Islands in the north, to 

 New Guinea, the north coast of Australia and New Caledonia ; and 

 extends eastward to the Fiji and Tonga Islands. In the west it is 

 found in the neighbourhood of the Nicobar Islands. In the Berlin 

 Museum there are specimens reputed to be from Japan ; 3 but I am 

 not aware of authenticated examples from this locality. 



/3. Bathymetrical range: Shallow water to 250 fathoms. 



Greatest range of one species : Archaster typicus, shallow water to 250 

 fathoms. 



y. Nature of the Sea-bottom : Archaster typicus occurs in shallow water on the coral 

 reefs at the Fiji and Philippine Islands, and on Green mud in 250 fathoms off the 

 Philippine Islands. Information as to the nature of the habitat of Archaster 

 angulatus is wanting. All the specimens that I am acquainted with are from 

 shallow water. 



Clwrological Synopsis of the Species. 



1. Archaster typicus, Muller and Troschel. 



Archaster typicus, Muller and Troschel, 1S40 (April), Monatsber. d. k. Akad. d. Wiss. Berlin, p. 



104; System der Asteriden, p. 65. 

 Astropecten stellaris, Gray, 1840 (November), Ann. aud Mag. Nat. Hist, vol. vi. p. 181. 

 Archaster nicobaricus, Mbbius (n. sp., Behn, M.S.J, 1859, Neue Seesterne des Hamburger und Kieler 



Museums, p. 13 (Abhandl. a. d. Gebiete Naturw. hrsg. v. d. naturwiss. Verein, Hamburg, Bd. i\\, 



Abth. 2, 1860). 



Localities. — Samboangan, Phdippine Islands. Depth 10 fathoms. 

 On the reefs at Zebu, Philippine Islands. 



1 Dr. v. Martens remarks that this example seems scarcely distinguishable from Archaster typicus. (Ueb. 

 ostasiatische Echinodermen, Archiv f. Naturg., Jahrg. xxxii., Bd. i. p. 87.) 



2 Nouv. Archives Mus. Hist. Nat, 2e Serie, 18S4, t. vi. pp. 57, 88. 



3 These specimens are mentioned by von Martens, who also states : ' Mir ist er it Japan nicht vorge- 

 kommen," {Archiv f. Naturg., Jahrg. xxxi, Bd. i. p. 353). 



