332 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Solaris. But he said that the general facies of this form is distinctly that of Solaris, 

 with the exception of the rather remarkable coloration, which has led to the proposal 

 of a distinctive name. He noted, however, that when a careful comparison is made 

 between the pattern of this coloration and that of the 2 specimens from the Prince 

 of Wales Channel which he unhesitatingly referred to Solaris it is seen that there is 

 really a striking resemblance between the two. He remarked that this leads to the 

 reflection that great circumspection is to be exercised whensoever we are tempted 

 to make use of differences in color as a distinguishing mark. He recalled that he had 

 already stated that there are black patches or spots on the pinnules of the specimens 

 described from the Prince of Wales Channel ; in the one at hand from Albany Island 

 these spots, having greatly increased in number and become more extensive than the 

 white, have caused the white ground to assume the appearance of spots on a dark 

 ground. The extreme limit of the species, according to Bell, seems to be reached by 

 this individual, and as the cirri are more numerous than usual and the basal seg- 

 ments of P2 are less strongly keeled, he proposed to speak of it as Actinometra Solaris 

 var. albonotata. 



On the theory that the keel is constantly present on the basal segments of Pa 

 in Solaris and that is it never found in rohtsta, Bell described an intermediate form 

 from Albany Island in which, according to him, the keels are never so well developed 

 as in Solaris, and never so slightly as in robusta, although he recognized the fact that 

 there are considerable differences in the extent of development of the keels, not only 

 within the limits of the species but even in the same individual. He gave the follow- 

 ing as the more characteristic features of the species. The cirri are XVIII, 18-20. 

 Pi is not especially long and is composed of rather more than 40 segments. The 

 basal segments of P2 have a not conspicuous keel which varies in the extent to which 

 it is developed. A specimen with an arm length of 120 mm. has the cirri 15.5 mm. 

 long and P] 20 mm. long. The arms are 3 mm. broad at the widest place, which is a 

 slight distance from the disk. The faint white line which is so often seen along the 

 middle of the dorsal surface of the arms is to be seen in some specimens, and in some 

 cases the black spots on the pinnules may be observed. 



Professor Bell noted that in a large specimen from Port Curtis which he identified 

 as robusta the knobbing of the lower brachials is very prominent. 



Carpenter remarked that the specimen which he described from Hong Kong 

 represents one of the many variations in the type of Comatula Solaris. 



He said that Lamarck's example in the Paris Miiseum and the large specimen at 

 Vienna which served Miiller as the type of his Actinometra imperialis, both of which 

 he personally examined, agree in their general characters. 



He regarded as the peculiar feature of the species the character of the lower 

 pinnules. The first pair of pinnules are composed of numerous stout segments the 

 lowest of which are stouter than, but not otherwise different from, their successors. 

 But in the next pair of pinnules some of the lower segments have their dorsal edges 

 produced into well-marked keels. In Lamarck's type these keels occur on the second, 

 third, and fourth segments of the pinnules on the fourth and fifth brachials (P^ and 

 P 2), while in the Vienna specimen (the type of imperialis) there is little or no keel 

 on the fourth segment of the fourth pinnule, and in the specimen from Hong Kong 



