NO. 1937. CRINOTDS OF THE BERLIW MUSEUM— CLARK. 389 



COMATULA PURPUREA (J. Miiller). 

 [For the synonymy, see The Recent Crinoids of Australia.) 



1. Australia; Heir Preiss; Cat. No. 1049 (Type of Alecto purpurea 

 J. Miiller, 1841). — One specimen. (See Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 

 vol. 23, p. 95.) 



2. Southwestern Australia. — Fourteen specimens. (See Die Fauna 

 Slid west- Austpaliens, vol. 3, Lief. 13, p. 451.) 



COMATULA PECTINATA (Linnffius). 



[For the synonymy, see Vid. Medd. naturh. For. K0benhavn, 1909, p. 148; and The Crinoids of the Indian 



Ocean.] 



1. Banka Strait; Prof. E. von Martens; Cat. No. 1842. — One small 

 specimen with arms about 70 mm. long. 



2. British North Borneo; Herr Pagel; Cat. No. 4744.- One speci- 

 men of the slender armed type, with arms 120 mm. long. 



3. Malacca; Mr. Hugh Cuming; Cat. No. 1051 (type of Comatula 

 cumingii J. Miiller, 1849). — One young specimen with arms 35 mm. 

 long; the cirri are VII, all broken off at the base. 



COMACTINIA MERIDIONALIS (A. and E. C. Agassiz). 



Alecto meridionalis A. aud E. C. Agassiz, Seaside Studies, 1865, p. 121. 



1. French Reef; United States Coast Survey; Cat. No. 2962.— One 

 specimen. 



COMACTINIA ECmNOPTERA (J. Mtiller). 



1 . No locality ; CajDtain Wendt . — One medium sized specimen, resem- 

 bhng others in the collection of the United States National Museum 

 from Cuba and from other parts of the West Indies. 



Hartlaub ^ states that, according to Carpenter, Comactinia echinop- 

 tera is identical with the ''10-armed variety" of Neocomatella (data. 



The genus Comactinia is very closely allied to the genera Comatula 

 and Cominia, which it represents in the West Indian region. In his 

 discussion of the genus Comatula (the "Solaris" and "Paucicirra 

 Groups" of Actinometra) Carpenter placed the most weight upon the 

 presence of syzygies between the ossicles of the IBr series, this charac- 

 ter separating it sharply from the West Indian Comactinia (the 

 "Echinoptera Group"). This supposed s^^zygy, however, is not a 

 syzygy at all, but in reality a peculiar modification of the ordinaiy 

 articulation occurring in that position, not in any way compar- 

 able to the true syzygy.^ Moreover, it is not always developed, even 

 in a given species ; for instance, some individuals of Comatula pecti- 

 nata have it and many do not. It affords, therefore, no basis what- 

 ever for the differentiation of the genera Comatula and Comactinia, or 



1 Die Comatulidenfanna des Indi.schen Arohipels, p. lOij. 

 * Proe. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 22, p. 17:'.. 



