386 ANTEDON. 



ter in seinem "Preliminary Report" liber die " Blake "-Comatuliden folgende 

 kritische Ausf iihrungen : 



"During the Gulf Stream Expedition of 1869, Mr. Pourtales dredged two small ten-armed 

 Comatulae in 450 fathoms, off Cojima, on the coast of Cuba. They were described by him under 

 the name of A. cubensis; but the description (d. i. die oben von mir zuerst citirte) given by him 

 only applies to the larger and more perfect specimen, which differs considerably from the smaller 

 and much mutilated one. Mr. Pourtales seems to have recognized that the two were different, 

 for in his description (d. i. die oben von mir an zweiter Stelle citirte Beschreibung) of the Crin- 

 noids obtained by the "Blake" Expedition of 1877-78, he wrote as follows: 



'To this species (i.e. A. cubensis) I refer provisionally two specimens very much mutilated, 

 having lost the cirrhi and the arms, differing somewhat from my type specimen, but possibly the 

 differences may be due to age.' 



He then described a specimen dredged at Station 43, in 339 fathoms (to which I shall refer 

 directly), and added that a smaller, equally mutilated one had been previously dredged by him- 

 self in 450 fathoms, near Havana. 



These two specimens are quite different from the type of A. cubensis. Not only are the first 

 radials visible and the second but little shorter than broad, as was mentioned by Mr. Pourtales, 

 but the first radials are separated from the centrodorsal by a complete circlet of basals, and there 

 are no pinnules upon any of the first six arm-joints, which are the only ones preserved. An equally 

 mutilated specimen was dredged by the "Challenger" in 350 fathoms, near Pcrnambuco, and 

 more perfect ones were obtained off Nevis, St. Lucia and Grenada during the cruise of the "Blake" 

 in 1878-79 (Stations 150, 151, 222, and 260, depths 291-375 fathoms). In most individuals the 

 first pinnule is borne by the 12th arm-joint, but in one arm of one individual it occurs as early as 

 the 10th joint. In no case, however, is there any pinnule on the second brachial." — (Bull. Mus. 

 Comp. Zool., 9, p. 165, 166). Cf. auch Chall. Rep., 26, p. 68. 



Auf diese grossen Verschiedenheiten der von Pourtales beschriebenen Exem- 

 plare grlindete Carpenter in Anschluss an die citirten Erorterungen, das 

 Genus Atelecrinus. Das grossere der von Pourtales 1878 als A. cubensis be- 

 schriebenen Exemplare wurde zur Species Atelecrinus balanoides erhoben, das 

 kleinere von Cuba stammende und schon in Pourtales's Beschreibung von 18G9 

 enthaltene Atelecrinus cubensis genannt. 



Als Typus von A. cubensis Carp, blieb somit nur das grossere der beiden von 

 Pourtales, 1869, I.e., beschriebenen Exemplare bestehen. 



Es friigt sich nun, ob dies Original-Exemplar sich in Carpenters Besitz be- 

 fand, und ob es eins der Exemplare ist, die mit der Etiquettirung "A. cubensis" 

 von Carpenters Hand mir iibergeben wurden, und die sich auf unserer Tafel 9 

 auf Carpenters Veranlassung hin abgebildet finden. 



Da der Pourtales'schen Beschreibung von 1869 zugleich ein Exemplar von Ate- 

 lecrinus cubensis zu Grunde gelegen haben kann, ist es schwierig sich dariiber 

 vollig klar zu werden. Indessen scheint mir, dass keins der auf Tafel 9 abgebil- 

 deten und von Carpenter als cubensis etiquettirten Exemplare das Pourtales'sche 

 Original-Exemplar sein oder iiberhaupt zu dieser Art gehoren kann. Auf keins 

 dieser Exemplare passten die Worte "five to seven forming a syzygium," ferner 

 "First radial concealed" und auch der Umstand, dass Pourtales vom 2ten Bra- 

 chiale sagt, es hatte "not the projection into the first brachial like A. sarsii, " 

 scheint mir wenig auf die in Tafel 9 abgebildeten drei Stiicke zu passen, die, 

 nebenbei bemerkt, mindestens zwei verschiedenen Species angehoren. 



