54 Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 



between the plates are filled with slender spines resembling those in the 

 grooves between the marginals. 



The mouth plates are narrow; the furrow margin is short, witli 

 apparently five flattened spines which decrease in length outwardly and 

 resemble those of the furrow series on the adambulacrals, but are more 

 slender; the margin adjoining the adambulacrals bears five or six much 

 shorter spines of diminishing length ; just within these there are five or 

 six longer and stouter spines, also of diminishing length. The sutural 

 edge bears three or four long spines corresponding to and resembling 

 those on the distal furrow margin, abruptly changing to a series of much 

 smaller spines before the maximum width of the plate is reached. The 

 edge bordering the adambulacrals bears very numerous short fine spines 

 like those bordering the adambulacrals. 



Color in alcohol, brownish yellow. 



Type.— Cat. No. 36,951, U. S. N. M., from "Albatross" Station 2998, 

 Gulf of California, in 40 fathoms. 



Family BENTHOPECTINID^ Verrill. 



Saraster new genus. 



Genotype. — Saraster insignis, new species. 



The characters of this genus are given in the description of the type 

 species following. 



Saraster insignis new species. 



Five arms; R=100 mm.; r=10 mm. (actinally) to 12 mm. (abacti- 

 nally); R: r=8.3 to 10 : 1 ; width of ray at base (between odd interradial 

 marginals) 15 mm. ; superomarginals 46. 



General form stellate; rays broad at the base, tapering rather rapidly 

 in the first quarter, much less rapidly from that point onward ; odd 

 interradial marginals are present in both series in all interradii. 



The gonads reach the fifth or sixth superomarginal. 



The pedicels have well developed, though small, sucking disks. 



The interbrachial septum is very small, membranous. 



The dorsal muscle bands are not attached to a proximal ambulacral 

 ossicle. 



There are no pedicellariae. 



The abactinal plates are strongly stellate, large and small intermingled, 

 the large with a low tabulum. Each abactinal plate bears usually one, 

 on the disk sometimes two, rarely three, long rough spines which have 

 numerous longitudinal serrate ridges; in the center of the disk the spines 

 may reach 5 mm. in length ; along the mid-line of the arms they remain 

 of the same length until the end of the basal quarter, though they become 

 more slender ; beyond this point, and along the sides of the arms, they 

 are shorter and more slender, but the transition from the longer to the 

 shorter spines is always very gradual. If there is more than one spine 

 to a plate, they are usually of very difi'erent sizes. The plates of the disk 



