28 " ENDEAVOUR " SCIENTIFIC RESULTS. 



the forty-four species, one from Lord Howe Island and one 

 from Masthead Island, were not collected by the " En- 

 deavour " but are from shore collections made by naturahsts 

 not connected with that vessel. Of the remaining forty-two, 

 twenty-three were taken only in southern Australian waters, 

 that is, south of Lat. 37° and east of Long. 128°, or in other- 

 words, on the coasts of South Australia, Victoria and Tas- 

 mania ; of these twenty-three, nine were taken in the Great 

 Australian Bight and three, all new to science, only there. 

 There are eleven species from the eastern coast, of which ten 

 were not found south of Port Jackson, while one was found 

 at Shoalhaven Bight ; only two of the eleven are new foi'ms, 

 the other nine being Avell-known species of tropical Australia. 

 Only three species, all previously known, were found on both, 

 the eastern and southern coasts. There are four species from 

 the western coast only, north of Cape Naturahste, all of which, 

 are very distinct and highly characteristic forms. Of one 

 species, specimens are present from Western AustraUa and from 

 Tasmania, but the identity of the two is not perfectly estab- 

 lished. There are no species in the " Endeavour " collections 

 represented by specimens from ail three coasts, but a few are 

 known with that extensive range, such as Luidia mactdata, 

 Coscinasterias calamaria and AllosticJiaster polyplax ; the two 

 latter are distinctty southern species but the Luidia is a 

 tropical form and its occurrence on all sides of the continent is 

 most interesting. Two species, Or easier gracilis and Ansero- 

 'poda rosacea occur on both the east and west coasts, but not 

 on the south ; like the Luidia they are tropical species. It 

 is probable that Plectaster decanus is a southern species 

 occurring on all three coasts, but the evidence is as yet 

 incomplete. 



About one hundred species of Starfish had been recorded 

 from Australia, including Lord Howe Island and Tasmania, 

 prior to 1915, but of these some twenty are of very doubtful, 

 authenticity and ten others, while vahd species, are of very 

 unlikely occurrence in Australia. The " Endeavour " col- 

 lections include twenty-five additions to the fist, thus making 

 up for most of those which must be stricken from the full list. 

 It may not be out of j^lace to add that the Museum of Com- 

 parative Zoology collection contains sixteen additional species 

 from Torres Strait, and we are therefore safe in affirming that 

 more than a hundred valid species of starfish are known from 

 Australian waters, in less than three hundred fathoms. Of these 

 at least seventy, or more than two-thirds, are peculiar to 

 Australia. 



