206 THE ECHINODERMS OF TORRES STRAIT. 
in the Torres Strait region and along the Queensland coast, so far as known, necessi- 
tates the belief that they have come directly from the Pacific past what is now the 
eastern end of New Guinea. 
In the light of this very convincing evidence, it is possible to find confirmatory 
data in some of the other lists given above. In list 1 there are several species 
which, although endemic, are of interest because of their relationships. Among 
the comatulids the two species of Stephanometra represent a group particularly 
characteristic of the region extending southeastward from the Philippines to Fiji 
via New Britain and the Solomons, and their occurrence at Mer at once suggests 
an eastern origin. Of the sea-stars, Fromia elegans and Nardoa rosea belong to 
genera which, as already shown, very probably have come in from the New Cale- 
donian region, while the nearest relative of the Murray Islands Ferdina is the species 
occurring at Fiji. The only brittle-stars in list 1 which have any particular sig- 
nificance are the species of Ophiomastix; indeed, only O. corallicola, obviously very 
near the Fijian O. caryophyllata, throws any light on original sources. Of the 
holothurians, Thelenota anax, while a very distinct species, is clearly a very near 
relative of 7. ananas, and this big “prickly fish’”’ seems to belong to the Pacific influx. 
Turning now to list 2, it may be recalled that every species on this list which 
occurs on the Australian coast or in the Thursday Island region is found at Mer. 
This is quite what would be expected if the members of this group of widespread 
species reached Australia from the Pacific via the eastern end of New Guinea, but 
if any considerable number of them reached the Queensland coast via Torres Strait 
there would almost certainly be some which did not become established at Mer. 
Of the 38 species in list 2, 31 are known from Fiji or Samoa, and 3 others probably 
occur at one or both of those groups, since they are known from other Pacific 
islands. Of the 4 remaining species, Oligopodia epigonus is a very rare echinoid of 
whose distribution we as yet know very little, Ophiothrix purpurea alone seems to 
be an East Indian species, while the 2 holothurians, Opheodesoma serpentina and 
Synaptula reticulata, are very imperfectly known and very probably occur in the 
Pacific. The indications, therefore, that the echinoderms of list 2 are a Pacifie 
group which has reached Australia from the west are certainly considerable. 
Little need be said of list 3 but that some of the species in it seem to have 
reached Australia with the Pacifie influx. Thus Colobometra perspinosa is known 
from the Moluccas, Island of Jobi on the northern side of New Guinea, Queensland, 
Port Jackson, and Lord Howe Island; the last locality, located as it is on the east 
side of the Thomson Deep, is almost conclusive proof of the route of this comatulid 
around eastern New Guinea. The nearly cosmopolitan Linckia guildingii is not 
known from the southern Moluccas or New Guinea, but it occurs at Samoa, Tonga, 
and Tahiti, and on the coast of Queensland. None of the brittle-stars are sufficiently 
well known to throw any light on distributional questions, and the 3 echini do not 
appear to have been associated with any Pacific influx. Of the holothurians, 
Actinopyga parvula is quite unknown from the southern Moluccas and New 
Guinea, but does occur at Hawaii and Samoa, and I think it has reached Mer 
from that direction. 
