ASTEROIDEA OF NORTH PACIFIC AND ADJACENT WATERS FISIIEB. 319 



much shorter spinclets, in having (iistiiifjuisliablc, even prominent superomarginals, 

 and fairly lonj? furrow spinclets. 



A specimen from station 5050, ofT Honshu, Japan, while (lilfcrinj,' from Alaskan 

 specimens in havmg rather smaller paxilhv, seems to be referable to the form from 

 station 3331. At the same time it does not appear to be separable from Sladen's 

 S. 'paxillatm. The Alaskan examples have therefore been ranked under pax'dUiius 

 which, if the identification is correct, has a fairly wide range and is extremely 

 variable. 



The stomach of one .specimen contained a holothurian, Alolpadia intermedia. 



SOLASTER EXIGUUS Fishct. 



PI. 90, ligB. 1, 2; pi. 112, figs.. 4, 4a-b. 

 Solaster exiguus Fisher, Zool. Anz., vol. 35, March 29, 1910, p. 573. 



Diagnosis.— Sunihu- in general appearance to 5. paxillatus, but disk smaller, 

 paxillffi smaller, inferomarginal plates more widely spaced and much narrower with 

 fewer and longer spinclets, actinal mterradial areas smaller (despite the fewer rays) ; 

 furrow spinelets two or one, long; actinal adambulacral spinclets three to five. 

 Raj-s seven; R = 25 mm.; r = 8 mm.; R = 3 r. 



Description. — Rays moderately slender, the inferomarginals not visible from 

 above except on outer part of the ray. Paxilhr rather small (but not so small as 

 in endeca or horealis), and spaced farther than their width. They have the apjK'ar- 

 ance of being fairh' well spaceil, although the papular areas contain ordinarily but 

 one papula. Paxillffi arranged ui quincunx on the rays, definite longitudinal and 

 oblique transverse rows beuig tlisceniible. Each paxilla consists of a cruciform 

 base raised into a low tabulum surmounted by five to eight or even ten slender 

 spinelets considerably longer than height of tabulum and with denticulate blunt 

 tips. When the spinelets stand erect the paxilla^ appear small and well spaced, but 

 when the spinclets are spread out the paxilla? nearly touch one another and look 

 much larger. Wlicn spread out the spinelets are seen to be webbed for half their 

 length. 



Inferomarginal paxillae similar in general appearance to those of lorealis, well 

 spaced, two to every three adambulacral plates, hence spaced farther than the 

 width of a paxilla. Each inferomarginal is subcircular, only very slightly com- 

 pressed and is crowned by five to twelve delicate spmclets, longer than the pedicel 

 and denticulate at tip. Above the interval between two inferomarginals is a small 

 superomarginal similar to but slightly larger than adjacent abactinal paxilla?. 

 This is less conspicuous than in paxiJlaius. 



Adambulacral armature prominent; plates well spaced as in hurrtilis. Furrow 

 spinclets imusually long, nearly or quite as long as the actinals; proximally two, and 

 distally 1. Actinal comb slightly curveil aboral at inner end, and consisting of 

 three to five slender long spinelets webbed basally, the middle sjnnclets longest. 



Actinal interradial areas smaller than in paTiHaius and endtca, about as in 

 horealis, and containing fifteen to twenty paxilliform groups of five or six spinelets. 



Mouth plates rather small, with six to eight marginal and two to five suiioral 

 spinelets, the former webbed basally and the inner two or three enlarged into teeth. 



