ECHIXOIDEA. I. jr 



thinks that they often give excellent specific characters, but he was disappoiuted <iii ihrer erhofften 

 Verwendbarkeit zur Unterscheidung natiirlicher Gruppen innerhalb der Familie: (p. i). (Nur mit 

 grosser Vorsicht diirfen Pedicellarien als systematische Merkmale bei den Cidariden beniitzt werden . 

 The small pedicellariæ are highly similar in almost all species, but the)- raay vary very much in the 

 separate individuals. (Only the form with a long terminal hook, occurring in Goniocidaris mikado and 

 clypcata, is especially mentioned). The tridentate ones ( loffelartige Form •) are better, but they are 

 also highly var>ing in the separate indi\iduals. Most applicable for the classification is the thick- 

 headed form, (the large, globiferous pedicellariæ); it is highly constant in form and size, and shows 

 many peculiarities, die sehr wohl einzelne Arten, manchmal auch Gruppen charakterisiren konnen . 

 He also tries to group the species according to these peculiarities, without, however, attributing to 

 them an\- great systematic importance, and therefore he does not mention the pedicellariæ in his 

 diagnoses of genera. The faet is that also this form of pedicellariæ shows some variability, is some- 

 times even quite wanting in some individuals, so that it is no quite reliable character. An extra- 

 ordinary faet is <dass sehr åhnliche Formen dieser Pedicellarien bei Arten vorkommen konnen, die 

 nacli den iibrigen Charakteren sehr wenig Verwandtschaft mit einander bekunden > (C. mcfiilaria and 

 verticillata). His final result is: In vielen Fallen hat nun ohne Frage die Vergleichung der Pedicel- 

 larien nicht geringen Werth fur die Systematik; sie geben jedenfalls sehr brauchbare Charaktere zur 

 Unterscheidung der Arten. — Zur Charakterisierung von grosseren Gruppen innerhalb der Familie 

 finde icli aber Pedicellarien sehr wenig verwendbar > (p. 34). 



And so the last hope of finding good generic characters in the Cidarids seems to have vanished. 

 Fortunately, however, my researches have given another result than that of Doderlein, viz. that 

 the pedicellariæ yield excellent generic characters, while the\- ma\' only more rarely 

 be used for distinguishing between the species. This seems to be irreconcilable with the 

 above quoted statement of Doderlein that species not more nearly related, may have quite similar 

 pedicellariæ. As instances are only named Cidaris iiicfiilaria and verticillata. Now it is quite correct 

 that the\- have the same kind of pedicellariæ; but then the question is whether the other characters, 

 in which they differ, are sufficient to show that they cannot belong to the same genus. The most 

 essential difference seems to be found in the spines, which are in C. verticillata provided with large 

 thorns placed in circles far from each other, while in C. iiictiilaria the spines have the whole surface 

 evenly set with homogeneous, small tubercles arranged in longitudinal series. Also with regard to 

 the provision of the interambulacral piates with miliary tubercles a difference is found — they are 

 almost naked in C. verticillata , closely covered in C.victularia. As it has otherwise proved to be a 

 faet that the characters taken from the structure of the test have been anything but good as generic 

 characters, and as there seems to be nothing unnatural in the faet that spines as those in C. »letii- 

 laria and verticillata are found in species of the same genus, I cannot but regard the faet of the two 

 species having the same kind of (very characteristic) pedicellariæ as proving them to be nearly related, 

 so that thev will have to be regarded as not too closely allied species of the same genus. Besides 

 there is another species of the same genus presenting considerably more resemblance to C. verticillata 

 than the C.metiilaria mentioned bv Doderlein. This is C.lmcidosa which is by Doderlein referred 



