544 BULLETIN 82, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Ekalin, St. Matthias Island, Bismarck Archipelago; reef; Dr. G. Duncker [A. H, 

 Clark, 1912] (2, H. M.). 



St. Matthias Island; H. Schode [A. H. Clark, 1912, 1913; Hartmeyer, 1916] 

 (5, Berl. M., 5939). 



New Britain; Prof. Arthur WHley [Bell, 1899; A. H. Clark, 1912, 1913] (1, 

 B. M.). 



Port Denison, Queensland [Liitken, 1877; Hartlaub, 1891; A. H. Clark, 1911, 

 1912] (1,H. M.). 



Uea (Uvea or Halgan), Loyalty Islands, east of New Caledonia; Doctor Graffe 

 [Bolsche, 1866; Ludwig, 1877, 1879; P. H. Carpenter, 1879, 1881, 1888; Hartlaub, 

 1891 (as Uca); A. H. Clark, 1912 (as Uca, Solomon Islands)]. Same [P. H. Car- 

 penter, 1881]. 



Loyalty Islands; Prof. Arthiu- Willey [Bell, 1899; A. H. Clark, 1912, 1913] 

 (2, B. M.). 



Lelti Island [A. H. Clark, 1912, 1913] (1, B. M.). 



Jaluit, Marshall Islands; Hernsheim, September 5, 1888 [A. H. Clark, 1912] 

 (1, H. M.). 



South Seas; Dr. Otto Fmch [A. H. Clark, 1912] (1, Berl. M., 5350). 



No locality; George Bennett [J. Muller, 1841, 1843; Dujardin and Hup6, 1862; 

 P. H. Carpenter, 1879, 1881, 1882; Bell, 1882; A. H. Clark, 1911] (2, L. M.). Same 

 [J. Muller, 1849; P. H. Carpenter, 1881]. Same [A. H. Clark, 1912] (1, H. M.). 



Geographical range. — From the Andaman Islands to northern Australia, the 

 Loyalty, Pelew, and Marshall Islands, the Philippines, and Macclesfield Bank. 



Bathymetrical range. — Chiefly Uttoral; from the shore hne down to 50 (?64) 

 meters. 



History. — Dr. P. H. Carpenter suggested that the figure of Linck's Caput- 

 Medusae hrnnnum represents a species of Comasteridae, and this conclusion is un- 

 doubtedly justified. Indeed, one may go a step further and say that Comanthus 

 bennetti is with little doubt the species depicted. 



Lamarck's Comatula multiradiata , which was described m 1816, was based upon 

 3 specimens which had been collected in the Moluccas by Peron and Lesueur in 1803. 

 Each of these 3 specimens represented a different species. One was an example of 

 Capillaster sentosa, another an example of Cojnanthus bennetti, and the third was 

 described by Johannes Muller, as a reidentification of Comatula multiradiata, under 

 the name of Alecto multijida. 



In 1832 Georg August Goldfuss described and figured in detail under the name 

 of Comatula multiradiata a specimen from the Indian Ocean — probably the Dutch 

 East Indies. There can be no doubt that his figm-e represents an example of bennetti. 



Much confusion has arisen in regard to this specimen for the reason that Goldfuss 

 described it as having conspicuous basals, plates which do not occiu' externally in 

 any of the recent comasterids. An examination of his figure shows, however, that 

 the supposed basals are in reality the small ends of the basal rays plus a gablelike 

 structure above them formed from the everted and thickened adjacent lateral borders 

 of the radials. Such a condition is not infrequent in the large comasterids. Car- 

 penter described the same thing in his original diagnosis of Comanthina schlegelii, 



