128 I'jatisactions. 



Asterias rodolphi. 



This Kermadec species is also given in the '' Index " with- 

 out a reference. A few notes were added by me ir the Linnean 

 Society's Journal (ZooL), vol. xxvi, p. 192. to M. Perrier's brief 

 original description, which runs thus : " Very like A. qracialis, 

 L., from which it differs chiefly in the number of rays, which is 

 seven, and the position of the ventral spines near the arabu- 

 lacral spines, which form a triple and not a double series as in. 

 the European species " : Aim. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser 4, vol. xvii, 

 p. 34 (1876). The type, which is in the British Museum, was col- 

 lected by Macgillivrav during the voyage of H.M.S. " Herald " 

 in 1854.' 



Cribrella ornata. 



Professor H. B. Kirk found this species in abundance at the- 

 Chatham Islands. He also observed Asterias calamaria and 

 Asterias scabra at the same pi are. 



ECHINOIDEA. 



Echinobrissus recens. 



This extremely interesting little echinoid occurs in Tasman 

 Bay ; specimens may be found on the beach at " The Sands," 

 near Richmond, after northerly gales. It also occurs pretty 

 freely in the channel at the entrance of Port Nicholson. Mr. 

 Haylock has collected a good many specimens on the beach 

 between Day's Bay and Pencarrow Liglit, some of them being 

 quite fresh with the spines on. The spines on the abactinal sur- 

 face are short, slightly tapering, with rounded tips, and longi- 

 tudinally striated, 1 "6 mm. long ; those on the actinal surface 

 are longer and finer, the longest, 3'5 mm., being near the mouth. 

 There is a specimen in the Canterbury Museum from the Chat- 

 ham Islands, and one from Stephen Island. It also occurs in 

 Foveaux Strait. 



The genus Echinobrissus attained its maximum develop- 

 ment in the later Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods, when 

 its forms were numerous and widely diffused. Two species 

 occur in the Australian Tertiaries, and one {E. papillosus) in the 

 New Zealand Eocene. If this species occurs in Madagascar, as 

 stated by Agassiz in the " Revision," its distribution is not so 

 remarkal)le as would appear at first sight, for it is evidently a 

 very old form, and in far distant times — probably before the 

 Cretaceous — Madagascar was much nearer to New Zealand zoo- 

 logically than it is now. This is shown by the relationship 



