STARFISHES OF THE PHILIPPINE SEAS. 41 



elliptical in section. Tiie bases of paxillae are also elliptical, slightly 

 spaced, and independent. Papulae about 8 surrounding a plate; 

 absent from a narrow midradial area. 



Adambulacral plates longer than wide with 7 or 8 compressed, 

 basally webbed furrow spines on a curved margin, and on surface of 

 plate 10 to 12 much shorter spinelets, similar to the actinal intermedi- 

 ates, in about two series. Furrow very narrow. 



Mouth plates prominent and with wide suture. Marginal spines 

 12, the innermost abruptly enlarged into a flattened conspicuous 

 lanceolate tooth, the others subsimilar to adambulacrals. Suborals 

 about 15 to a plate, in two series, small except inner two, which form 

 a series just back of the teeth. 



Actinal intermediate areas extensive, the plates slightly imbricated 

 with rounded margin toward center. The rather triangular, broad, 

 interradial area has its outer angle about at the sixth marginals, 

 whence the plates extend in a narrow and tapering band to within 

 about 4 inferomarginals of end. Plates beset with spaced, short, 

 more or less clavate spinelets, increasing in length toward margin. 

 A plate near center of area has 6 to 10, sometimes as many as 12, 

 spinelets. Others near periphery have 5 or 6. 



Madreporic body situated a little more than its own diameter from 

 margin, traversed by striae proceeding from a point near the adcen- 

 tral margin, and bearing many little blunt spiniform protuberances 

 resembling the tips of paxillar spinelets. 



Young. — There are 3 young specimens from station 5425, 2 of 

 which were recovered from the stomach of Prionaster gracilis. I am 

 not at all sure that these belong to this species. They are young 

 of Benthogenia^ although some of the generic characters are not yet 

 full-fledged. The smallest of the three has R 5.5 mm. and 4 marginal 

 plates to the ray in each series; the largest has R 12 mm., and 10 

 superomarginals, which, from the sixth on meet their neighbors along 

 the midradial line, as in the adult. A few notes on the latter specimen 

 are appended, 



Rays short, less pronounced than in adult, abactinal paxillae with 

 4 or 5 spinelets, and a little more uniform in size than in type. Mar- 

 gin of rays and disk rounded, the sixth superomarginal not enlarged. 

 Terminal plate large, but ovoid, and as broad as long, with only 4 

 spines, 3 terminal, and 1 dorsal. Cribriform organs not confluent 

 in the interbrachium, but with a bare space as wide or slightly wider 

 than adjacent organs on each plate. Spinelets relatively large, and 

 in the median intcrbrachial organ in 6 vertical series, with 6 to 8 in 

 each series. The 2 marginal vertical series of each organ webbed. 

 Beyond fifth marginal the organs are reduced to simple fimbriate 

 channels. The median radial cribriform organ so characteristic of 



