STAEFISHES OF THE PHILIPPINE SEAS. 401 



Distribution. — Red Sea, Mozambique, Mauritius, Sulu Archipelago, 

 Celebes, Molucca Islands, Amboina, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, 

 Guam, Hawaiian Islands. 



Remarks. — The specimen from Tomahu Island is a comet form, 

 and has only a very few gi^anules between the furrow spines. The 

 subambulacral series of enlarged granules is, however, separated 

 from the furrow spines by 1 or 2 series of small granules. The ex- 

 ample from Papatag Island is quite small (11=26 mm.) and no 

 granules have yet appeared between the furrow spinelets. This speci- 

 men would be classified as L. ehrenbergii if the subambulacral en- 

 larged granules were not well spaced from the furrow spines; in 

 L. ehrenbergii they are contiguous. 



These three specimens appear to be quite distinct from a young 

 L. laevigata (R=25 mm.) from station 5558. The latter has a median 

 radial area free from papulae and 1 madreporic body; the 3 speci- 

 mens of multifora have 2 madreporic bodies, and no median radial 

 area free from papulae. 



LINCKIA GUILDINGn Gray. 



Linckia guihlingii Gray, 1840, p. 285 (St. Vincent). 

 LincJcia pact flea Geay, 1840, p. 285 (Tahiti). 

 Linckia diplax Muller and Troschel, 1842, p. 30. 



One specimen with R equaling 215 mm. from Jolo (shore). 



Distribution. — West Indies, Bermuda, Vera Cruz, Bahia, Abrol- 

 hos Reefs, Cape Verde Islands, Mauritius, Madagascar, Persian Gulf, 

 Andaman Islands, East Indies, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, 

 Samoan, and Hawaiian Islands. 



Remarks. — Linckia guildingii, L. pacif^ca, and L. diplax have 

 been separated on the basis of very variable characters, such as the 

 number of madreporic bodies and length of ray. No one has been 

 successful in pointing out any constant differences of importance 

 between L. guildingii and L. paciflca. Much the same difficulties have 

 been encountered in separating diplax and paciflca., while guildingii 

 and diplax are practically identical, even to the duplication of the 

 madreporic body. 



The specimen collected by the Albatross is large, has one madre- 

 poric body, and would therefore be ranked with L. pa/^ifica of 

 authors. 



Family GANERHDAE Perrier. 



Genus TARACHASTER Fisher. 



Tarachasfer Fishee, 1915c, p. 216. Type, T. tenuis Fisher, 



Diagnosis. — Rays slender, disk small; dorsolateral plates 4-lobed, 

 imbricated in regular transverse and longitudinal series; plates 

 of median radial region mostly 3-lobed, irregularly imbricated, 



