102 THE ECHINODERMS OF TORRES STRAIT. 
VALVASTERID£E. 
Valvaster spinifera' sp. nov. 
(Plate 6, Figure 6; Plate 33, Figures 8 and 9.) 
R in life, 55 mm.; in dry specimen, 50 mm.; r in life=20 mm., dry =15 mm.; br in 
life 22 mm., dry, 16 mm. In life, R =2.75r or 2.5 br.; dry, R=3.3 r or 3.1 br. Disk large, 
rather flat, but slightly elevated; median basal part of each ray higher than center of disk 
or sides or tip of ray; terminal part of each ray quite flat. Abactinal skeleton closely and 
irregularly reticulated, the papular areas ill-defined, with 2 to 5 papule in a group; some- 
times the papule appear to be single; skeletal plates more or less distinctly carinate, bearing 
on the carina (which is straight, curved, or angular) one or more spinelets, a millimeter 
long, more or less; there are about a hundred spinelets to each square centimeter of surface; 
a thin but evident membrane or skin covers the entire skeleton, so that in life the spinelets 
are somewhat sacculate; the membrane is not granular, though there are a few widely 
scattered granules on it; very rarely a spinelet is replaced by an erect 2-valved pedicellaria 
with bent tip, the valves rather wider at tip than at base. Superomarginal plates about 
16 in each series, not well-defined, except near tip of ray; each distal plate is covered by 
well-spaced pointed granules, with one larger, thick, blunt spinelet on outer corner; prox- 
imally the plates are more spiniferous, with larger spinules and often one or more stout, 
slightly curved, pointed spines near center; in each series, from 1 to 6 plates have the 
entire center occupied by the enormous valvate pedicellarie characteristic of the genus. 
Terminal plate small, inconspicuous, granulose. Madreporite 2.5 mm. across, rather ele- 
vated, about 5 mm. from center of disk. 
Inferomarginal plates apparently a little more numerous than those of the upper 
series (17 to 19); they are similar, but lack the big pedicellarie, and the presence on them 
of large spines is most irregular; the distalmost half dozen or so commonly have a big 
(relatively) conical central spine; near middle of ray there are often 2 big, flattened, bluntly 
pointed spines on a plate, and basally 2 or 3 such spines are commonly present; but many, 
perhaps most, of the inferomarginal plates carry no large spines. Actinolateral plates in 
regular but ill-defined series; proximally there are 4 series, but not even the one adjoining 
the adambulacrals reaches clear to the tip of the ray; these plates typically carry at the 
center a broad, flattened, truncate spine, 2 mm. or more in length, and around it 3 or 4 
much smaller, sharply pointed spinelets; on many plates, however, the large spine is greatly 
reduced in size or is quite wanting. 
Adambulacral plates with a furrow-series of 5 slender, cylindrical spinelets and a large 
subambulacral spine; the furrow spines may be subequal or the lateral ones may be more 
or less noticeably shorter; distally the number drops to 4 and then to 3; the subambulacral 
spine may be as large, flat, and blunt as the central spine of an actinolateral plate, but 
often it is much smaller, less flattened, and more pointed; besides it there are a few well- 
spaced, much smaller spinelets on the surface of the plate, and proximally one of these 
spinelets may be replaced by a big, erect, 2-jawed pedicellaria, but such pedicellarie are 
by no means common. Oral plates each with 9 marginal and 2 or 3 suboral spines, of a 
size and arrangement comparable to those on the adjoining adambulacrals. Tube-feet 
in two series. 
Color in life, a brilliant and well-nigh indescribable combination of green, purple, 
red, and white above (pl. 6, fig. 6) and light yellowish with some irregular red markings 
orally. The dry specimen is dull yellow with blotches and markings of dull red still evident 
on the upper side and here and there a deep orange-yellow spot, while the lower surface 
still bears traces of its red markings. 
' Spiniferus =bearing spines, in reference to the spiny character of all the skeletal plates. 
