ANTEDON CUBENSIS. 385 



Antedon cubensis Pourt. 1869. 

 Tafcl 9, Fig. 10-12 und (?)13; Tafel 15, Fig. 3, 4. 



1S69. Pourtales, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1, p. 356, (pars). 



1881. P. H. Carpenter, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 9, p. 165. 



1888. P. H. Carpenter, Chall. Rep., 26, p. 54, 68, 207, 369, 377. 



(Nicht hierher gehort: 1878. Antedon cubensis Pourtales, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 5, p. 214). 



Die erste Beschreibung dieser vom Dampfer "Bibb" 18G9 in der Tiefe von 

 450 Faden an der Kiiste von Cuba gefischten Species wurde von Pourtales ge- 

 geben. Sie lautet f olgendermaassen : 



"Ten arms; mouth central. Centrodorsal plate conical, covered with cirrhi nearly to the tip. 

 Cirrhi very long and slender of 2S cylindrical joints. First radial concealed by the centrodorsal 

 plate, second very short; axial radial pentagonal or shield-shaped. First brachials very short. 

 Arm-joints with imbricated, serrated edges; five to seven forming a syzygium. First pinnule not 

 much longer than the second, the others rather short and slender, consisting of about ten joints, 

 and increasing in length towards the end of the arm. 



Two specimens in 450 fathoms on the coast of Cuba. It resembles somewhat A. Sarsii, but 

 differs from it by its flatter centrodorsal plate, and by an entirely different shape in the 1st and 

 2d brachial, particularly the second, which has not the projection into the first brachial, like A. 

 Sarsii." — (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1, No. 11, p. 356). 



Unter gleichem Namen wurden 9 Jahre spater zwei vom "Blake" gefangene 

 Comatuliden beschrieben, welche Pourtales vorlaufig der Species A. cubensis zu- 

 theilte, die jedoch mit dieser nichts zu thun haben. Des Interesses halber fuhren 

 wir die Beschreibung vollstandig an: 



"To this species 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. The centrodorsal piece is long conical or rather acorn-shaped, 5mm. high by 3j in 

 diameter; it has ten vertical rows of horseshoe-shaped sockets for the cirrhi, 5 or 6 to a row, alter- 

 nate on contiguous rows. It shows in the upper part ridges, corresponding to the interambulacral 

 spaces. Cirrhi with long compressed joints. First radials projecting beyond the edge of the 

 centrodorsal piece. Second radials smooth and but little shorter than broad (in the type of my 

 A. cubensis the first radials are not visible and the second quite short). Axial rhombic. First 

 brachials well separated from one another. Syzygium in the third joint, afterwards four joints 

 between two syzygia. Mouth excentric ; anus central and tubular. 



Station No. 43, Lat. 24? 8' N., Long. 82° 51' W. 339fms. A smaller equally mutilated speci- 

 men had been dredged by myself formerly in 450 fathoms near Havanna." — (Bull. Mus. Comp. 

 Zool., 5, No. 9, p. 214, 215). 



An dieser Beschreibung fallt gegenuber der ersten besonders die Angabe der 

 excentrischen Lage des Mundes auf. Bei aufmerksamer Vergleichung der bei- 

 den eben citirten Beschreibungen von Pourtales gewinnt man bald den Ein- 

 druck, dass es sich dabei um ganz verschiedenartige Exemplare handelt-, welche 

 Pourtales unter einen Species-Begriff zu bringen suchte. 



Ueber diese beiden Beschreibungen von Pourtales macht nun P. H. Carpen- 



