JAl'ANESE ASTEROID! :A. 603 



The inner adambulacral spines are slightly palmate in ar- 

 rangement and mostly six for each plate, but sometimes only 

 live, of which the one at the adcentral end is especially 

 short and usually overlapped by the abcentral spine or spines 

 of the next adcentral plate. The outer row consists of only two 

 short stout spines, of which the abcentral one is usually very 

 much smaller. At the adcentral end of each adambulacral plate, 

 between the two rows of spines there is an elongated forcipiform 

 pedicellaria, but this may be w^anting on some of the plates. 



The inner oral spines are either seven or eight for each 

 plate, and one of the pair at the mouth end may so far surpass 

 its fellow in size as to bring about the appearance of the presence 

 of an unpaired spine. The outer spines are the dii-ect continua- 

 tions of the outer spines of the adambulacral plates and may 

 vary from five to seven for one interradius. 



Specimen G, belonging to the Fisheries Bureau, is intermediate 

 in character between specimens 1-3 on the one hand and speci- 

 men 4 on the other. It is very irregular in form. The actinal 

 side is slightly and the abactinal very decidedly convex. What 

 is rather conspicuous on the actinal side is the presence of a 

 row of groups of coarse granules directly external to the outer 

 adambulacral spines, separated from the general coarse granules 

 of the actinal side by a groove-like space. Each group contains 

 1-3 spines and is in line with an adambulacral plate. Groups of 

 coarse granules similar to those of specimen 5 may be found in 

 some places on the actinal side. 



The abactinal surface is relatively smooth in appearance, the 

 spines being comi>aratively far distanced and few in number 

 for each non-poriferous area. The poriferous areas also bear 



