STARFISHES OF THE PHILIPPIXE SEAS. 223 



decreasing regularly in size from the central area of disk toward the 

 margin and toward the end of the ray- Outside the papular areas 

 the plates have scarceh' any tabulum and the crown of granules is 

 elliptical, oblong, or irregular, and arranged in oblique transverse 

 series. On the papular area the longitudinal series of plates are 

 perfectly distinct, but outside this area can not be easily traced. An 

 average large paxilla of the radial series has between 20 and 30 

 polygonal granules, some, but not all, on the periphery being in the 

 form of short spinelets. 



The shape of the abactinal plates varies. On the papular area 

 they are subcircular or broadly elliptical, sometimes with very slight 

 peripheral indentations. The low plates of the oblique transverse 

 series outside the papular areas are irregularly oblong, w^ith angular 

 or rounded extremities. In the midradial region beyond the papular 

 {•reas the plates are oval, elliptical, or various irregular combinations 

 of these forms. 



Superomarginals, 56 in number, form a steep, arched bevel inter- 

 brachially, and beyond the proximal fourth of ray are confined to 

 the lateral wall, very nearly the entire width of the ray being occu- 

 pied by the area of abactinal plates. The first 8 or 9 plates are 

 wider than long, the width gradually decreasing from the first plate 

 to the tip of the ray, so that at the middle of the ray the supero- 

 marginals are only one-half as wide as at the interradial line. From 

 the tenth to twenty-fifth or twenty-eighth plates the length equals 

 or slightly exceeds the width, while on the last fourth the width is 

 again slightly greater than the length. The plates are covered with 

 slightly spaced, circular, convex granules, considerably coarser than 

 those of the abactinal plates, and a row of much vslenderer ones sur- 

 rounds the plate. The grooves between the plates are shallow, but 

 well marked. Terminal plate granular, longer than wide, slightly 

 saddle-shaped, with 3 terminal spines. 



Inferomarginals small, corresponding to the superomarginals, and 

 decreasing in width regularlj^ toward extremity of ray. They are 

 a trifle wider than the superomarginals on the middle of the ray, but 

 about the same width proximally and distally, and on the outer half 

 of ray are very small for this genus, being only a little larger than 

 the adambulacrals. The side of the ray is rather thin and rounded, 

 and proximally more than half of the height is occupied by the 

 superomarginals, but distally each series occupies about half. The 

 plates are covered with spaced, pointed, conical, or thickly fusiform 

 spinelets, the median area being occupied by a transverse zigzag 

 series of tapering, sharp, appressed spinules, 8 to 12, proximally, 

 becoming reduced to 1 or 2 on the small distal plates. These spines 

 sometimes are most numerous near the outer end of the plate, and 

 sometimes form 2 irregular transverse series. 



