222 s. goto: 



in Astropecten, as is showu in the "remarks" at the end of the full des- 

 cription reproduced futher on. 



The first description of this species, which is a preliminary one, is as 

 foUows [Sladen, '83, p. 249] : 



" Astropecten hrevispinns, n. sp. 



"Rays five. R=3.2r; R = 32 millim., r-.lO millim. Rays tapering 

 regularly from tlie base to the tip and terminating in a point. Breadth of 

 a ray at the base about 11 miUim. Interbrachial angles slightly rounded. 



" Supero-marginal plates 22 in number from the interbrachial line to 

 the tip, higher than broad along the inner Iialf of the ray, but broader tlian 

 high on the outer portion. Each plate (excepting two or tlu'ee in the arm- 

 angle and a few at the extremity) bears two small, conical, sharply pointed 

 spines. The inner series are placed close to the inner edge of the plate, 

 and are continuous from the arm-angle until near the tip, decreasing in size 

 as they proceed outward, imtil they disappear altogether. The outer series 

 are sHghtly larger, and are placed at the extreme edge of the plate on 

 the roimdiug where the dorsal and lateral superficies converge ; they 

 are continuous tln-oughout the ray, excepting the innerniost pJate in the 

 arm-angle. 



" Infero-marginal plates higher than broad, and flush with the superior 

 series. Each plate bears a single marginal spine, short, tapering continu- 

 ously from base to tip, sharply pointed and slightly compressed. On the 

 inner lialf of the ray, two similar and slightly smaller spines are situated on 

 tlie median line of the plate — one, wliich is the smallest, not far from the 

 inner edge of the i^Late adjoining the adambulacral x)lates, and the other 

 about midway between tliis spine and the marginal spine, the three forming 

 a lineal series transverse in relation to the direction of the ray. On the outer 

 portion of the ray the inner spine is aborted or indistinguishable from the 

 squamules of the plate. When the side or Lateral wall of the ray is placed 

 in direct view, the above-mentioned spines of the inferior pktes are all visible, 

 and they, together with the spinelets of the superior i^lates, appear to form 

 a continuous vei-tical series. The marginal spine is very little, if at aU, 

 longer tlian the outer sx^ine on the supero-marginal plate, and all these 



