Vol. XXIX, pp. 51-62 April 4, 1916 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON . 



SIX NEW STARFISHES FROM THE GULF OF CALI- 

 FORNIA AND ADJACENT WATERS.* 



BY AUSTIN H. CLARK. 



The zoogeographic region which extends from Peru north- 

 ward to and including the Gulf of California and the southern 

 portion of the Pacific coast of the peninsula of Lower California 

 is very remarkable not only on account of the relatively large 

 number of peculiar genera which occur therein, but also because 

 of the curious relationships which the endemic species show to 

 others in southeastern Australia, the Hawaiian Islands, the 

 Mediterranean, and the Caribbean Sea, in addition to their 

 relationships with types occurring in Oceania and in the Malayan 

 region . 



A considerable amount of work has been done here, both by 

 shore collectors and, in deep water, by the "Albatross " ; yet 

 it is clear that there is still a great amount to be accomplished, 

 for many types which should occur here are as yet unknown, 

 while others have not been seen since they were first recorded, 

 some of them more than half a century ago. 



Of the six species herein described Sideriaster canaliculatvs is 

 related, more or less closely, to S. grandis, known from a single 

 specimen from the Gulf of Mexico; Saraster insignis is related 

 to other types in the eastern north Pacific; Anthenea mexicana 

 is related, though not very closely, to other species of the genus 

 in Australia, India and China; Narcissia gracilis is related to 

 two Atlantic forms, one of which occurs in the Gulf of Mexico; 

 Echinaster parvispinus is related to other species of the genus in 

 the Malayan region ; while Cyllaster seminuda finds its nearest 

 counterpart in the Hawaiian Islands. 



• Published with permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 

 12— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.. Vol. XXIX. 1916. 151) 



