PART 5 A MONOGRAPH OF THE EXISTING CRINOIDS 233 



compressed lateral^ and, in the longest, number 14, 15, or 16, while in tlic shortest 

 there are only 12 or 13; the penultimate segment bears a small opposing spine. He 

 says that in specimens of A. petasus from the coasts of Norway, obtained through the 

 kindness of Professor Loven, the cirri are much shorter and much stouter than those 

 of typical A. mediterranea, and their segments number 12 to 15, whereas there are 

 usually 20 in A. mediterranea. 



On the French coast, on the muddy bottoms in 40, 50, and 80 meters, there occur 

 ambiguous feather stars often scarcely different from A, mediterranea, but on the other 

 hand sometimes close to A. petasus. Sometimes in these Pi is very long and fihform, 

 and sometimes it is not notably different from the following pinnules. The cirri show 

 similar variations, so that it becomes difficult to fix the systematic position of these 

 crinoids. The specimens from Algiers are among those which most resemble A. 

 petasus. 



The form recorded by R. Greeff (1882) from the Canary Islands I assume to be 

 this species, though it has never been described in detail and I have seen no specimens 

 from that locality. The stunted Antedons mentioned by Marion in 1883 are those 

 with which he compared specimens from Algiers in 1878 



Perrier's early work (1884) upon the larval stages of A7itedon was based on material 

 from Algiers, but in his later work (1886) it is impossible to separate the observations 

 made on this form from those made on ^4. bifida from RoscofI and on A. mediterranea 

 as he did not distinguish between these species and did not give in detail the origin of 

 his specimens. It is a reasonable guess, however, that what he says about the larvae 

 and the pentacrinoids refers to A. bifida moroccana, while his notes on the anatomy of 

 the adults refer to ^4. bfida bifida. 



From what Carpenter (1891) wrote about his examples from Madeira it seems clear 

 that he had moroccana. The assumption that Lo Bianco's (1899) small specimens 

 from the Bay of Naples are this form rests upon a probable analogy with conditions at 

 Marseille and the identification of moroccana at Messina and Ajaccio. 



When I first had occasion to discuss this form (1911) on the basis of specimens 

 from Algiers, Tangier and Morocco in the Paris and Copenhagen Museums, I referred 

 it to A. bifida, in contrast to A. mediterranea of the northern coast of the Mediterranean. 

 But a further study led me in 1914 to separate moroccana from ^4. bifida. 



In 1920 Mortensen suggested the creation of a special genus to include A. petasus, 

 leaving aU the other species in Antedon. At the same time he made the alternative 

 suggestion that A. mediterranea and A. adriatica be considered as a new genus or sub- 

 genus, all the other forms remaining in Antedon. 



In 1921 Professor Koehler remarked that moroccana is extremely close to bifida 

 and scarcely deserves specific separation; but it may be considered as a variety of 

 bifida differing from the typical form through having the outer cirrus segments strongly 

 compressed laterally. 



[Notes by A.M.C] This suggestion was adopted by Pallary in 1935 but Tortonese 

 (1955) went further and reduced moroccana to the synonymy of A. bifida. 



In 1925 Ranson recorded Antedon mediterranea from Tunisia and Algeria in the 

 Tanche collections. It is presumed that the latter specimens at least are of moroccana. 



Also in 1925 some specimens from off Morocco, collected by the Vanneau, were 

 recorded by Mortensen as Antedon hupjeri. It is most probable that these are referable 

 to moroccana. They were in poor condition. 



