NEW STARFISHES FROM THE PACIFIC COAST 117 



Mouth plates narrow, rather prominent actinally, the free 

 margins of the combined plates forming a salient angle into 

 actinostome ; free margin of each plate slightly angular near 

 inner end and longer than the margin adjacent to first adambu- 

 lacral. Armature consists of a furrow series of about 6 or 7 

 tapering spinules decreasing in length from the inner enlarged 

 tooth, outward, and thence continued along margin adjacent to 

 first adambulacral in about 9 much smaller spinelets similar to 

 those of actinal intermediate plates. A superficial series of 

 similar spinelets follows margin of median suture, increasing in 

 size toward inner angle of plate, and an incomplete more or less 

 irregular series often, but not always, occurs between marginal 

 and superficial series. There is more or less variation in the 

 details of dental armature. 



Madreporic body rather large, about midway between center 

 and extreme edge of disk. Striations coarse, centrifugal, very 

 irregular; madreporic body sometimes nearly hidden by 5 or 6 

 large paxillas. 



Type, No. 21926, U. S. Nat. Mus. Type locality, Alba- 

 tross Station 3310, Bering Sea, in 58 fathoms, on dark sand and 

 mud. 



Remarks. — This species bears a close resemblance to Paras- 

 tropectcn inermis Ludwig, 1 and is probably congeneric with 

 that form, although anomalus has a minute anal pore. The 

 presence of an anal pore is, I believe, a character of scarcely 

 more than specific importance. For instance one species of 

 Astrofccten has been shown by Verrill to possess a minute 

 anus. Although I have not yet had an opportunity to make 

 serial sections of the anal region of anomalus, I have been able 

 to make out a tiny pore in 2 specimens, and the intestine lead- 

 ing to the pore is well developed. It may perhaps seem her- 

 etical to classify the present species with Lefty chaster, but 

 anomalus differs chiefly from L. facificus in having a larger 

 disk, shorter rays, broader actinal interradial areas, and a 

 slightly different ornamentation on paxillre and marginal plates. 



'Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., XXXII, July, 1905, 76, pi. to, fig. 21, 22; pi. xxi, 

 fig. 117; pi. xxii, fig. 126. (Gulf of Panama and Cocos Id., 1,271 and 1,40s 

 meters.) 



