82 Bulletin, Vanderbilt Marine Museum, Vol. IV 



Starfishes, p. 108, pi. 16, figs. 1-7, 1877 (gives details of struc- 

 ture). — Viguier, Nouv. Arch. Zool. Exper. et Gen., vol. VII, 

 p. 193, pi. XI, figs. 4-6, pi. XII, figs. 3, 4, 1878.— Nutting, Narra- 

 tive Bahama Exped., Bull. Labr. Nat. Hist., S. U. I., vol. Ill, 

 pp. 52, 182, 202, 212, 1895. 



Asterias gigas Linn£, Mus. Tessinianum, p. 114, pi. 9, 1753. 



Orcaster gigas Lutken, Vidensk. Meddelel., p. 64, 1859. — Verrill, 

 A. E., Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts and Sci., vol. I, p. 367, 1867. — 

 Richard Rathbun, ibid, vol. V, p. 149, 1879. 



Asterias sebae Blainville, Actinologie, p. 238, 1834. 



Oreaster aculeatus Gray, op. cit., vol. VI, p. 238 (Young). 



Family: GONIASTERIDAE. 



Genus : PELTASTER Verrill. 

 Peltaster planus Verrill. 



Plates 43, 44 and 45. 



Type: Verrill's type was taken in N. lat. 39° 53' off Martha's 

 Vineyard, in 156 fms. (Cat. nos. 13, 362), depository not stated. 



Distribution : Restricted to the type locality from off Martha 's 

 Vineyard, 156 fms., and the "Ara" specimen taken seven miles off 

 Alligator Reef, Florida, in 150 fms. This specimen is about the same 

 size as the type. One young specimen dredged in 200 fms., nine 

 miles S. W. by W. of Port Basque, Newfoundland, September 1, 1926. 



Material examined : One, 150 fms., seven miles off Alligator Reef, 

 Florida, March 30, 1926 ; one, 200 fms., off Port Basque, Newfound- 

 land. 



Color: The color of the living animal is unknown, that of the 

 alcohol preserved specimen is deep old ivory. 



Technical description : Starfish regularly nearly pentagonal with 

 the interbrachial margin very little concave. Rays very short, blunt. 

 R = 50 mm. ; r = 37 mm. Abactinal surface covered with plates 

 which are of two types; the primary or larger plates are variously 

 irregularly hexagonal with rounded angles, rhomboidal, or occasion- 

 ally oval and the secondary plates closely interspersed among the 

 primaries are smaller, unequal, subcircular. All the abactinal plates 

 are entirely covered with rather coarse, spaced, rounded granules. 

 The primary plates frequently bear 60 to 100 granules ; the secondary 

 plates have as few as 8 to 25 granules. The abactinal plates are so 



