528 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Mus., vol. 36, 1909, p. 506 (synonymy; genotype; distribution); Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 

 vol. 22, 1909, p. 175 (leferred to the Comasterinae) ; Vidensk. Medd. fra den naturhist. Forening 

 i K0benhavn, 1909, p. 141 (revised and divided into 3 subgenera, Comaniheria, Comanthina, 

 and Comanihus); p. 142 (genotype Comanlhus ivtricata A. H. Clarke Actinomttra rnlida P. H. 

 Carpenter); Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 40, 1911, p. 662 (no infrabasals in the young); Amer. 

 Journ. Sci., ser. 4, vol. 32, 1911, p. 129 (characteristic of the Japanese fauna; significance); 

 Memoirs Australian Mus., vol. 4, pt. 15, 1911, p. 730 (in key); p. 732 (in key); p. 733 (key to 

 the subgenera; key to the species in the subgenus Comaidhiu); p. 747 (equivalent in Car- 

 penter's clas.sification) ; pp. 751, 754 (original reference); Zool. Anzeiger, vol. 39, No. 11-12, 

 1912, p. 421 (habit compared with that of Neomelra hibogae); Crinoids of the Indian Ocean, 

 1912, p. 11 (western limit of the large highly multibrachiate species is Ceylon); p. 17 (pignifi- 

 cance of the conditions in this genus in southern Japan) ; pp. 55, 56 (in ke3's) ; p. 89 (synonymy; 

 genotype); Die Crinoiden der Antarktis, 1915, p. 163 (geographical range); American Nat- 

 uralist, vol. 49, 1915, p. 525 (bathymetrical range); p. 539 (asymmetrical disk); p. 540 (1 or 

 more rays dwarfed); Unstalked Crinoids of the Siboga Exped., 1918, p. 34 (in key; range); 

 p. 48 (key to tlie included subgenera and species). — H. L. Clark, The Echinoderm Fauna of 

 Torres Strait, 1921, p. 16 (rejection of the included subgenera); p. 16, footnote 1 (discussion 

 of gender). — Gislen, Nova Acta reg. Soc. sci. Upsaliensis, ser. 4, vol. 5, No. 6, 1922, p. 53 

 (pinnule combs); Zool. Bidrag frSn Uppsala, vol. 9, 1924, p. 35 (brachial homologies); p. 51 

 (obliquity of brachials); p. 117 (relation to fossils). 

 Comanthus {Comanlhus) A. H. Clark, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 37, 1309, p. 29. 



Diagnosis. — A genus of Comasterinae in which the elements of the IBr series and 

 the first 2 ossicles following each axillary are united by synarthry ; most of the axillaries 

 bear either 2 division series or 2 undivided arms; the IIBr, IIIBr, and subsequent 

 division series (if present) are either all 4 (3 + 4), or 4 (3 + 4) and 2 in varying propor- 

 tions, with no regularity whatever in the occurrence of division series of 2 elements. 



Geographical range. — From Hong Kong, Amoy, southern Japan, the Philippine, 

 Bonin, Pelew, Caroline, Gilbert, and Samoan Islands, Tonga, Fiji, New Caledonia, 

 New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania, westward to Baluchistan, the Seychelles, 

 Madagascar, and southern Africa as far as the vicinity of Cape Town. 



Bathymetrical range. — From the shore line down to 256 (?548) meters. Of the 

 12 included species, 10 are foimd between the shore line and 50 meters; 6 occur between 

 50 and 100 meters; 5 are found between 100 and 150 meters; 4 live between 150 and 

 200 meters; 2 are found between 200 and 300 meters; and 1 extends deeper than 

 300 meters. 



Remarks. — Of the 12 species included in the genus Comanthus, 2 are extraor- 

 dinarily variable in all their characters. The cirri may be well developed, poorly 

 developed, deficient, or wholly absent. The division series are very rarely all 4 (3+4), 

 but are almost invariably 4 (3 + 4) and 2 in varying proportions in different individuals; 

 there is no regularity whatever in the replacement of division series of 4 (3 + 4) by 

 division series of 2. The arms are exceedingly variable in stoutness and especially 

 in length, and may be very greatly elongated and attenuated. The different arms 

 may vary very greatly in the same individual. The terminal combs may be confined 

 to the proximal pinnules, or they may occur at intervals far out on the arm, and even 

 on the distal pinnules; furthermore, they may be of different types. 



These two species {timorensis and farvicirra) , which are very much alike and 

 possibly only forms of the same species, are herein regarded as constitutmg a special 

 subgenus, Comanthus in the strict sense. Both are very wide ranging, and usually 

 abundant wherever they occur. 



