JAPANESE ASTEROIDEA. 131 



fie distinction. A. zebra sliould, I tliink, be united with A. hempricJiP, 

 Perhaps, also, Sladen's A. notograptus is another synonym^\ 



Herdman [ : 06, p. 447] mentions Astrop. hemprtcJd as an enemy of the 

 pearl oyster, prowhng over the beds, 



Astropeden Mmpricldi is reported from Portuguese East Africa by 

 Simpson and Brown [ : 10, p. 48] : 



" Several specimens of various ages and slightly different in superficial 

 appearance represent this species. They were obtained in three separate 

 localities, viz., Tunghi Bay, Mtundo Bay, and Montepes Bay. They agree 

 exactly with those of the same species in the British Museum, collected 

 by H. M. S. ' Alert ' on the Mozambique coast. One specimen has been 

 regenerating three arms from the disc. 



" Locahties. — Station I., Tunghi Bay ; Station HI., Mtundo Bay 

 (Wamizi Is. to Kifuki Is.) ; Station X., Montepes Bay. 



" Previously recorded from — Mozambique Coast ; Red Sea ; Mauritius ; 

 Ceylon ; Tuticorin ; Mergui Axcliipelago." 



Koehler mentions it from the south-eastern Moluccas [ : 11, p. 266] : 



" Dragage No. 1. 18 Février 1908. Ngaiguli. Profondeur 14 m. Cinq 

 échantillons. 



" La longueur de R varie de 40 mm. à 12 mm. Tous les exemplaires 

 sont bien caractérisés et ils sont exactement conformes à la description de 

 DÖDERLEIN (Zoologischer Anzeiger, Bd. XXYI, p. 326). Les piquants mar- 

 ginaux commencent à se montrer soit sur la quatrième, soit sur la cin- 

 quième ou sur la sixième plaque marginale dorsale suivant la taille des 

 exemplaires." 



As may be seen from the above review, there are some differences in 

 the descriptions of difierent observers, wliich may be brought out more clear- 

 ly in a tabular form, as follows : 



1) " I Kive taken the opportunity of examining the types of -.4. velitaris ; they are all 

 immature, and are, perhaps, not members of the same species." 



2) "Describers of yomig starfishes should have their memoirs placed in some scientific 

 Index Expurgatorius ; they take no trouble, and give much." 



