180 BULLETIN 76, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



B« marks. — By a curious mistake the type locality is stated by Stimpson to be 

 "San Diego, Calif., Colorado expedition, Dr. J. S. Newberry." The type specimen 

 is No. 1280, U.S.N.M., and is labeled in Doctor Stimpson's well-known handwriting 

 "Asterias eapitata, Stm., San Luis Obispo, Doctor Newberry." This specimen is 

 really intermediate between capitatus and giganteus, as the locality would lead one to 

 infer. It has not the characters of the race capitatus developed to the extreme 

 degree that one would wish to see in a " type " and it is very unfortunate that the type 

 specimen is not from San Diego, or from some locality well south of Point Conception. 



Dr. Mary J. Kathbun, in this connection, showed me documentary evidence that 

 Doctor Newberry did not collect at San Diego. In 1883, Dr. Richard Rathbun 

 published the following in Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection Illustrating the 

 Scientific Investigation of the Sea and Fresh Waters (Great International Fisheries 

 Exhibition, London, 1883, U. S. America), page 12: 



Explorations and surveys west of the one hundredth meridian, under the direction of Gen. 

 A. A. Humphreys, Chief of Engineers, by Lieut. George M. Wheeler in charge, from 1872-1879. 

 The naturalists of this survey were Dr. H. C. Yarrow, Mr. H. W. Henshaw, Professor Newberry, 

 Mr. Charles E. Aiken, Dr. J. T. Rothrock, and Oscar Loew, and their field operations included the 

 fresh-water lakes and rivers of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and western and south- 

 western Nevada, Salt Lake, Utah Lake, and other salt-water lakes, and the Pacific coast in the 

 vicinity of Santa Barbara, Calif. 



The t3 r pe has R 81 mm., r 21 to 23 mm. The abactinal spines are of the large, 

 capitate, well-spaced sort characteristic of capitatus from further south, but the 

 crossed pedicellariae are too small and the furcate pedicellariae are too numerous. 

 The larger crossed pedicellariae measure 0.36 mm. in length while the Laguna Beach 

 and San Diego examples measure 0.4 and 0.45 mm. (giganteus, 0.26 to 0.31 mm.). 

 The smaller pedicellariae of the type measure 0.31 mm. in length. The furcate 

 pedicellariae are not so numerous as in typical giganteus, but are not so scarce as in 

 the extreme form of capitatus. 



Although the type of capitatus is frankly an intermediate it is superficially more 

 like the southern than the northern race. 



The record of capitatus from Monterey Bay appears to be based on the form of 

 giganteus having unusually stout, well spaced spines. I have a young specimen which 

 might pass for capitatus but it has abundant furcate and small crossed pedicellariae. 



PISASTER BREVISPINUS (Stimpson) 



Plate 74, Figures 4, 4a-4e; Plate 76, Figure 8; Plate 78, Figures 1-1; Plate 79, Figures 2-5; Plate 



86, Figures 12-16; Plates 89-93 



Asterias brevispina Stimpson, Boston Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, 1857, p. 528, pi. 23, fig. 3 



(San Francisco Bay, Calif). 

 Asterias paucispina Stimpson, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, 1862, p. 266 (Puget 



Sound).— Peerier, Rev. Stell., 1875, p. 60. 

 Asterias (Pisaster) papulosa Vehrili,, Amer. Journ. Sci., vol. 28, July, 1909, p. 63 (Puget 



Sound). 

 P[isaster] brevispina Yerrill, Amer. Journ. Sci., vol. 28, 1909, p. 63. 

 Pisaster brevisjrinm Verrill, Shallow-water Starfishes, 1914, p. 77, pi. 41, figs. 1, 2; pi. 44, 



figs. 1,2; pi. 45, fig. 1; pi. 69, fig. 3; pi. 76, figs. 1-16. 



