Benham. — Stelhriih a /id /'Jr/miu/s fr> 



llie l\f niittth I- 



151 



Colour. — In life the starfish is darlc pui|)l(' 

 with the interbrachial areas dark brow)i. 



in alcohol it is pale red, 



Asterias (Stolasterias) edmondi sp. no v. Figs. 12 and 13. 



Two dried specimens and one in alcohol appear to rec}uire the formation 

 of a new species, and I give it the above name in commemoration of the 

 great work of Edmond Perrier on the echinoderms. 



Dimensions. — R 33, r 7 ; and R 2fi, r 5-.5. The larger has 8 rays, the 

 smaller 7. 



The remarkable feature about this species is the naked central area, 

 provided with only a few scattered small plates. It recalls S. alexandri 

 Perrier (1905) ; but in that species the naked area is traversed by 5 radial 

 rows of small plates, even when young. 



The arms are long and narrow, being in the larger individual 5 mnu 

 across the base ; so that L : B equals 28 : 5 — >'.<'., its length is more than 

 five times its breadth. 



The whole starfish is much more delicate in build than A. rodolpki. 

 The central abactinal region is almost bare, appearing as a thin membrane^ 



TTVcip. 



Fig. 12. 



/•7. 



A sterius (dinondi. 



cLd. ^im. Jjn. a ctL 



Fk;. 13. 



•ontro-lateral ; /./■., inter- 



Fig. 12. The central area of the tli.sc (X 4). re., central : c 



radial ; mdp., madreporite ; rl, primary radial. 

 Fig. 13. The skeleton of a ray, half only (x 4). ad., adambulacral ; c. connective;. 



(/./., dorso-Iateral ; i.m.. in[ra-niar<rinal : *•.//(., supra- marginal ; r.. radial. 



with minute, isolated, roundish plates or granules roughly arranged in 3 or 

 1 incomplete concentric circles. In the larger one there is in the centre a 

 quadrilobed plate (the central) bearing a spine, which plate is absent in 

 the smaller specimen. The diameter of this area is 5 mm. It is surrounded 

 by a ring of more or less pentagonal or quinque-lobed plates, interradial 

 in position {i.r.), each bearing 2 spines. One of these is, of course, the 

 madreporite, which is relatively of large size. Lying outside this circle 

 are the 7 primary radials. The radials are 3-lobed, 2 lobes being proximal 

 and resting on the i.r. Between the i.r., and almost entirely concealed by 

 them, are the centro-radials. 



The arm-skeleton consists of a median series of triradiate plates, every 

 alternate one bearing a spine, and, like all the spines, these are surroimded 

 at their base by a cushion of pedicellariae. 



On each side of the median series is a row of transversely arranged plates, 

 slightly lobed at the outer end, each of which is connected by means of one 

 or two smaller plates with 2 vertical rodlike plates. These in their turn 



