Boone, Asteroidea, Cruise of "Alva," 1931 2AS 



Linckia pacifica, Gray, op. cit., p. 285. 



Ophidiaster or7iithopus, Muller and Troschel, Syst. der Aste- 



riden, 1842, p. 31. 

 Ophidiaster ehrenbergii, Muller and Troschel, op. cit., p. 31. 

 Linckia nicobarica, Lutken, C, Vidensk. Meddel., 1871, p. 265. 

 Linckia ehrenbergii, DE LoRiOL, P., Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. 



Geneve, t. XXIX, no. 4, 1885, p. 31, pi. 10, figs. l-7a. 



Linckia laevigata (Linne) 



Plates 74, 75 and 76 



Type: Linne's type came from the Indian Ocean and is de- 

 posited at Upsala. 



Distribution : This strikingly beautiful species has been re- 

 liably recorded from the Rea Sea, southward on the East African 

 coast at Zanzibar and Mozambique, and eastward from the Red 

 Sea in the Persian Gulf, Madras, India, the Andaman Islands, 

 Ceylon, Amboina, Halmaheira Islands, Flores Island, Timor, Bat- 

 jan, Borneo, Philippine Islands, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Gil- 

 bert Islands, Marshall Islands, Fiji Archipelago, Samoan Islands, 

 Solomon Islands, Caroline Islands, Society Islands, Guam and 

 Hawaiian Archipelago. In the western Indian Ocean it has been 

 found at Mauritius. Koehler reported it from the Aru Islands. 

 Fisher had it from numerous stations in the "Albatross" survey of 

 the Philippine seas. H. L. Clark found it at Erub and Mer, Tor- 

 res Straits; Green Island, off Cairns, Queensland, and on the 

 Great Barrier Reef southward to the Palm Islands (Lat. 19°). 

 The Vanderbilt expedition secured it at Ingram Island, Queens- 

 land and adds two more new localities to its far-flung distribution, 

 namely, Bali and Nuka Hiva Island, Marquesas Islands. 



Material examined: Four specimens, taken at Suva, Vitu 

 Levu Island, Fiji Islands, September 9, 1931. Three, from Temu- 

 kus Roads, Bali, October 25, 1931. One from Pago-Pago, Samoa, 

 September 2, 1931. Three specimens, from the reef, Ingram 

 Island, Queensland, October 12, 1931. Two quite small specimens, 

 from Anaho Bay, Nuka Hiva Island, Marquesas Islands, August 

 10, 1931. 



Colour : The very young adults, up to an approximate radius 

 of 35 to 40 millimeters, have a relatively inconspicuous colour pat- 



