STARFISHES OF THE PHILIPPINE SEAS. 91 



CTENOPLEURA ASTROPECTINIDES Fisher. 



Plate 16, figs. 1, la-c ; plate 17, fig. 3 ; plate 18, fig. 2. 



Ctenopleura a.-^tropectinidcs Fisher, 1915«, p. 60S. 

 Astropecten astropectmides Doderlein, 1917. pp. 46, 62, 166. 



Diagnosis. — Eelated to O. ludwigi (de Loriol),^ but differing in 

 having longer, narrower raj^s, shorter, stouter, superomarginal spines 

 confined to marginal angle of ray, strongly 4-lobed abactinal plates 

 on papular areas, and fewer actinal inferomarginal spines. R= 

 129 mm.. r=25 mm., R=5 r. ; breadth of ray at base, 28 mm. Disk 

 small, rays long, narrow, very gradually tapering to a bluntly 

 pointed extremity; abactinal integument thin, paxillae, tall, spaced, 

 bearing a compact upright group of 10 to 15 subequal, terete, slender, 

 blunt spinelets varying from slightly shorter to slightly longer than 

 the cylindrical, barrel-shaped, or compressed pedicels; superomar- 

 ginals encroaching conspicuously upon abactinal area, the dorsal 

 face tumid and about twice as wide as the lateral ; marginal area of 

 plates covered with short, slender, crowded spinelets, becoming coarse 

 roundish granules on the summit of median transverse tumidity," 

 the angle between lateral and dorsal facets bearing a transverse series 

 of 2 to 4 short conical spinules; the first and the 3 or 4 last plates 

 without spinules; inferomarginals proximally as wide as length of 

 3, slightly arched but actinal surface not at all strongb/ beveled; 

 outer end armed with oblique comb of 4 slender, sometimes slightly 

 curved, closely placed, appressed spines, the lov/est or next to lowest 

 the longest, and about 1.5 to 1.75 plates in length; spaced from these 

 are proximally 2 spaced flattened sharp spines nearly as long as 

 longest lateral spine; general surface covered with squamiform spine- 

 lets often spatulate in form ; adambulacral plates with 4, proximally 

 5 or 6 (distally sometimes 3), rather long, flattened spines, the lat- 

 erals subtruncate or round tipped; subambulacral spinelets proxi- 

 mally 12 to 16, subequal, slender, often flattened, and only about half 

 as long as median furrow spine ; most of the plates with a conspicuous 

 fasciculate pedicellaria, made up of 6 or 8 of the subambulacral 

 spines. 



Descrijdion. — Paxillae fairly large, not crowded, but on the con- 

 trary rather spaced, especially on the disk, and arranged in slightly 

 oblique transverse scries, 5 or 6 of which correspond to the length 

 of 2 superomarginals at base of ray. The paxillae are slightly 

 smaller on the center of disk, and along the midradial line they are 

 often very strongly compressed and larger than at either side. The 

 pedicel is rather tall, subcylindrical, a trifle swollen at the middle, 



^Astropecten ludirifjt de Loriol, M^m. soc. phys. et d'hist. nat. G(5n&ve, vol. ">:',, pt. L*. 

 No. 1. p. 21, pi. 2, fig. 4. (Tago, Jap<ln.) 



