ABT. 3. NEW SEA STAR FROM JAPAN FISHER. 3 



another, over most of the ray they are spaced, and are connected by 

 a curious festoon of small intermediate ossicles, as indicated in fig- 

 ure 1. The alternate and larger subquadrate superomarginals carry 

 a conspicuous acicular spine about 3 mm. long, with a tough sheath 

 expanded and convex at the summit, which usually hides the tip 

 of the spine and is thickly covered with crossed pedicellariae. On 

 the outer part of the ray the vestigial intermediate ossicles disappear 

 entirely, while the marginals become very small (fig. 2). 



The inferomarginal plates, which are also disconnected except at 

 the base of the ray, each carry two equal, somewhat flattened, blunt 

 or truncate, stout spines (subequal to the superomarginal) involved 

 in a single sheath, which generally exceeds the spines in length and 

 has an expanded convex summit closely beset with crossed pedicel- 

 lariae. Vestigial intermediate ossicles subtend the ends of many of 



S^ & <Z> & 



Fig. 2. — Lysastrosoma anthosticta X 10. Marginal plates from near tip of ray ; 



BASE OF RAY TOWARD LEFT ; NOTE ABSENCE OF CONNECTIVES ; S S S, SPINIFEROOS SUPERO- 

 MARGINALS ; i i, INFEROMABGINALS. 



the proximal inferomarginal plates but disappear entirely on the 

 outer half of ray (figs. 1 and 2') . 



Adambulacral plates small, thin, the surface sunken somewhat 

 below that of the inferomarginal plates which overlap them. The 

 single spine is slender, a trifle tapered, blunt, or else untapered and 

 subtruncate, and devoid of pendent pedicellariae. Small peduncu- 

 late, lanceolate pedicellariae occur on the furrow face of the plates. 



Papulae large, numerous, in ill-defined longitudinal bands abac- 

 tinally, and several to each intermarginal mesh. None actinal. 



Actinostome not at all sunken. Mouth plates prominent with 

 usually two chisel-shaped, actinostomial spines shorter than length of 

 plate, and one similar, or more tapered, suboral spine, near the outer 

 end of plate. The lateral or outer actinostomial spine bears a flap 

 of tissue covered with numerous very small, lanceolate, straight 

 pedicellariae. The first pair of postoral adambulacral plates is en- 

 larged and in contact interradially ; the second pair is widely sepa- 

 20183— 25— Proc.N.M.vol.64 3 



