14 THE ECHINODERMS OF TORRES STRAIT. 
Capillaster multiradiata. 
Asterias multiradiata Linné. 1758. Sys. Nat., ed x, p. 663. 
Capillaster multiradiata A. H. Clark. 1909. Vid. Med., p. 134.—1918. Siboga Comat., p. 14, pl. iii (colored). 
A single specimen, with 19 arms and the cirri xx1, 20-24, was taken with a “tangle,” 
in 5 to 6 fathoms of water just outside the reef at Mer. The color in life was black orally, 
brown dorsally, with joints between the segments much darker; whole dorsal surface includ- 
ing the cirri heavily silvered or frosted with white. The dry specimen is light gray, the 
joints noticeably darker. The half-dozen specimens in the Museum of Comparative 
Zoology, from Port Galera, Philippine Islands, on which we have color notes, thanks to 
the kindness of Dr. L. E. Griffin, were brown of some shade in life, sometimes nearly black, 
usually with white or silver on the cirri, but seldom elsewhere. The range of multiradiata 
extends from Ceylon to the Caroline Islands, north to Formosa and south to Dirk Hartog 
Island, West Australia, and Flinders Island, Queensland. 
Comatula pectinata. 
Asterias pectinata Linné. 1758. Sys. Nat., ed. x, p. 663. 
Actinometra pectinata P. H. Carpenter. 1888. Challenger Comat., p. 284, pl. liii, figs. 15-22. 
Comatula pectinata A. H. Clark. 1908. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 33, p. 685. 
(Plate 1, Figure 3; Plate 3, Figure 2.) 
This species is certainly not common in the Torres Strait region, but it is recorded as 
taken by the Challenger, the Alert, and Dr. Semon. We found a specimen on the sandy flat 
south of Friday Island, and at Mer we took 4 specimens. One of these, a young one, was 
notable for its color (pl. 3, fig. 2), so much more brilliant than that of any adults we 
saw, their general tone being deep brownish-purple (pl. 1, fig. 3). The range of this 
species is from Singapore and the Philippine Islands, southward to Baudin Island, West 
Australia, and to Port Molle, Queensland. I doubt the validity of the Port Jackson record 
for the same reasons that I have questioned the occurrence of Comatella stelligera there. 
Comatula purpurea. 
Alecto purpurea J. Miller. 1843. Arch. f. Naturg., 9, pt. 1, p. 132. 
Comatula purpurea A. H. Clark. 1910. Proce. Biol. Soe. Wash., 23, p. 96, fig. on p. 97.—1918. Siboga Comat., 
pl. xiv, fig. 16. 
This species ranges along the northern coasts of Australia from Port Denison, Queens- 
land, to Shark Bay, West Australia, and northward to the Philippine Islands. It is recorded 
from both the Aru and Kei Islands and the Alert took it in Torres Strait. We did not find 
it at Friday Island, Badu, or Erub, but it is exceedingly common at Mer in all sorts of 
situations, some of which are quite unlikely places for a comatulid. It was first noted 
among sea-weed and rocks at the edge of the reef-flat near the northern corner of the island 
on the west side. The individuals found here, where conditions seemed unfavorable to 
echinoderms and few occurred, were all small, rarely more than 90 mm. across when fully 
expanded, and in ordinary light seemed to be black. Some, when critically examined in 
bright light, were found to have a distinctly greenish cast, while others were brownish. 
In a solution of Epsom salts (MgSO,) in which they were placed for narcotization, they 
gave out rapidly and copiously a brownish-red color. As the color was given out to an 
unequal degree, preserved specimens show much diversity of shade. At first these small 
individuals from the northwestern reef were supposed to be young, but the very dark 
color suggests they are adults stunted by adverse conditions under which they live. On 
the eastern and southern reefs, purpurea proved to be very common and reached a larger 
size. The biggest ones found were about 250 mm. across. Under the very favorable living 
conditions on these reefs great diversity of color was shown, especially among the smaller 
individuals; some were bright red, some madder red, some simply reddish, and occasionally 
