282 bulletin: museum of compaeative zoology. 



Asterina cepheus. 



Asteriscus cepheus Miiller & Troschel, 1842. Sys. Ast., p. 41. 

 Asterina cepheus v. Martens, 1866. Arch. f. Naturg., 32 (1), p. 85. 



2 specimens, 33 mm. in diameter. Amboina. Barbour collection. 



In life these specimens were bluish green above, pale yellowish beneath, and 

 these colors were little changed by drying. But on being washed with alcohol, 

 the blue-green color was changed to orange-red, which faded to reddish-yellow on 

 drying. 



Asterina exigua. 



Asterias exigua Lamarck, 1816. Anim. s. Vert., 2, p. 554. 

 Asterina exigua Perrier, 1876. Arch. Zool. Exp., 5, p. 222. 



1 specimen, 30 mm. in diameter. In life dark fawn-color ; pale in dried speci- 

 men. Under a stone, Tifu Bay, Buru Island, Moluccas. Barbour collection. 



Asterina pectinifera. 



Asteriscus pectinifer Miiller & Troschel, 1842. Sys. Ast., p. 40. 

 Asterina pectinifera v. Martens, 1865. Arch. f. Naturg., 31 (1), p. 352. 



2 specimens, Misaki, Sagami Bay, Japan. — 3 specimens, Tokyo, Japan. Owston 

 collection. 



These specimens are 68-90 mm. in diameter, and the color in alcohol is a more 

 or less indistinct orange-red, which becomes paler on drying. 



Linckia laevigata. 



Asterias laevigata Linne, 1758. Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 662. 

 Linckia laevigata Liitken, 1871. Vid. Med., p. 265. 



32 specimens, Amboina. — 6 specimens, Sorong, New Guinea. — 3 speci- 

 mens, Gani, Halmaheira Island. — 2 specimens, Manokwari, New Guinea. — 1 

 specimen, Pom, Jappen Island, New Guinea. Barbour collection. 



These specimens were all collected on sandy bottoms and were blue, ranging 

 from bright cobalt to brownish blue, with the papular areas more or less dis- 

 tinctly yellow. They were taken directly from the salt water and dried 

 by artificial heat, so that in most cases there has been little change in form 

 or color. They range from 85 to 265 mm. in diameter. Three of those 

 from Amboina have only four rays each. The specimen from Pom has two 

 madreporites but is not otherwise peculiar in any way. Examination of a very 

 large series of specimens (343) in the Museum collection, from twenty stations 

 between the Persian Gulf and Zanzibar on the west, and Samoa and Hawaii on 



