190 BXJLLKTIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



In a specimen in the Upsala Museum, as described by Gisl6n, the cirri are XVII, 

 21, from 8 to 9 mm. long, arranged in two rows on the centrodorsal. In the longest 

 (distal) segments the length is rarely more than two-thirds or three-quarters of the 

 width. The 10 arms are 70 mm. long. P. is lacldng. Pi is 4.4 mm. long with 12 

 segments of which the longest is half again as long as broad. P2 is 6.5 mm. long with 

 13 segments. P3 is 5.0 mm. long with 12 segments. The proximal pinnules are some- 

 what compressed and flagellate with the outer segments provided with spiny whorls 

 at their distal ends. Gislen said that this specimen is remarkable for the variation in 

 the proximal pinnules. On one arm Pi is 4.2 mm. long with 13 segments. P2 is 

 4.2 mm. long with 12 segments. P3 is 2.5 mm. long with 9 segments. 



Remarks. — This species is most closely related to D. mollis from Kurrachi, from 

 which it differs in having the cirri slightly stouter with most of the segments twice as 

 broad as long or even somewhat broader instead of only slightly broader than long 

 as in D. mollis; in having the proximal pinnules, while of about the same proportions 

 as those of D. mollis, relatively longer and stouter, and composed of somewhat shorter 

 segments; and in having the synarthi'ial tubercles less marked. 



It is possible that D. mylitta is only a variety of D. mollis, and it may be that in 

 reality they are identical. 



Localities. — Hong Kong (2, C. M.). 



Siboga station 99; anchorage off North Ubian Island (lat. 6°07'30" N., long 

 120°26'00" E.); 16-23 meters; lithothamnion bottom; June 28-30, 1899 [A. H. Clark, 

 1912, 1918] (4, U. S. N. M., E. 388; Amsterdam Mus.). 



Albatross station 5139; in the vicinity of Jolo (Sulu) ; Jolo Light bearing S. 51° W., 

 3.6 miles distant (lat. 6°06'00" N., long. 121°02'30" E.); 36 meters; coral sand; 

 February 14, 1908 [A. H. Clark, 1918] (1, U. S. N. M., 35338). 



Singapore; Svend Gad (2). 



North Borneo [Grube, 1875; Bell, 1882; P. H. Carpenter, 1883, 1888; A. H. Clark, 

 1909, 1912, 1913]. 



No locality [Gisl6n, 1927]. 



Geographical range. — From Hong Kong and the Philippine Islands to Singapore 

 and ?Borneo. 



Bathymetrical range. — From shallow water down to 36 meters. 



History.— It is probable that Professor Grube's Comatula laemssim,a, described 

 from North Borneo in 1875, was based in part upon this species. Comatula laevissima 

 was described from two specimens which, through the kindness of Professor Schneider, 

 Grube's successor at Breslau, were later examined by Dr. P. H. Carpenter. One of 

 these was a specimen of Amphimetra molleri (see Part 4a, page 349). The other, 

 according to Carpenter, agreed pretty closely with it in the characters of the cirri and 

 in the short brachials, but instead of being entirely flesh-colored it was banded with 

 violet on each brachial, it had no synarthrial tubercles, and the segments of the lower 

 pinnules were sharply carmate — that is, the lower pinnules were sharply prismatic. 



From the characters as given, especially the strikingly smooth appearance, the 

 color, the prismatic lower pinnules, and the similarity of the cirri to those of Amphi- 

 metra molleri, this second specimen of Comatula laevissima would appear to be a 

 species of Decametra, probably D. mylitta. In D. mylitta the cirri are XIX, 21-25, 

 the arms are 75 mm. long, Pj has 15-17 segments, and P3 resembles Pj and is 



