A MONOGRAPH OF THE EXISTING CRINOIDS 397 



meridionalis, and referred to the "Group of Actinometra meridionalis" within the 

 genus Actinometra. 



In 1888 in the Challenger report upon the comatulids Carpenter divided the 

 genus Actinometra (the equivalent of the Comasteridae) into various "series," and 

 these into different groups wholly on a basis of the characters presented by the arms. 

 His Series I included those species in which a syzygy occurs between the elements of 

 the IBr series and the first 2 brachials; the species with this feature which have only 

 10 arms constituted his "Solaris group." His Series II included species with "the 

 two outer radials [i. e., the elements of the IBr series] articulated. Ten arms." 

 This series included only the "Echinoptera group," the name Echinoptera replacing 

 the name Meridionalis used for the group in 1884 on account of priority. 



He had come to the conclusion that echinoptera is a Caribbean species, and not 

 improbably identical with one of the many variations of meridionalis, which conclusion 

 was strengthened bj' the fact — for which he was indebted to the kindness of Prof. 

 E. von Martens — that the Berlin Museum also contains some other Caribbean 

 echinoderms which were deposited by Captain Wendt. 



As understood by him the Echinoptera group included 7 species, all but 2 of 

 which are members of the Caribbean fauna. These species were: 



1. Echinoptera. 



2. Meridionalis. 



3. Blakei (P. H. Carpenter, MS.). 



4. Pulchella (the multibrachiate individuals falling in the Stelligera group). 



5. Rubiginosa (he mentions that "tridistichate" series occasionally occur in this 

 species, but does not place it in any other group). 



6. Cumingii (subsequently found to be the young of pectinata, a member of the 

 Solaris group). 



7. Coppingeri (with 12 arms, and also placed in the Fimbriata group; this was 

 subsequently found to be the young of multiradiata, of v/Ydch fimbriata is a synonym). 



In his discussion of meridionalis, which was obtained by the Challenger at Bahia, 

 Brazil, in 7-20 fathoms, he said that before he received the Blake collection he had 

 considered these specimens as representing a new species which he had called Acti- 

 nometra brasiliensis, and this name appears on some of the plates which were printed 

 off before he was able to examine specimens of undoubted meridionalis. For the 

 present, he says, the type may be known under the name meridionalis, though it 

 is quite possible that this may have to be discarded in favor of echinoptera. 



In some of the Challenger specimens the dimorphism of the arms was very well 

 marked, the posterior arms being ungrooved and consisting of but half the number 

 of segments which occur in the anterior; but none of them possessed spherodes. 



Hartlaub in 1891 wrote that the Comasteridae of the Western Hemisphere 

 belong chiefly to the Echinoptera group, and said that Carpenter had written him 

 that echinoptera is identical with the 10-armed variety of pulchella. 



In 1902 Dr. Hubert Lyman Clark recorded this species from the Fish Hawk 

 dredgings about Porto Rico under the names of Actinometra meridionalis and Acti- 

 nometra rubiginosa. 



In his elaborate memoir on the Blake comatulids published in 1912 Hartlaub 

 stated that the Blake collection included three species of Actinometra (Comas- 



