Mr. W. K. Fisher's Notes on Asteroidea. 103 



V. — Notes on Asteroidea. — II. By Walter K. Fisher, 

 Director, Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, 

 California. 



[Plate XIII.] 



The Genus Freyella. — In a revision of the Brisingidae* 

 recently published in this Magazine, I divided the old genus 

 Freyella into two groups, Freyella and Freyellidea. I made 

 Freyella spinosa, Perrier, the type of Freyella, since no type 

 was designated originally. The old generic name was 

 retained for those species which are distinguished by having 

 united first adambulacral plates, a syzygial joint between the 

 first and second adambulacral plates, conspicuous proximal 

 marginals, the first of which is closely joined with its vis-a-vis 

 to form a pair directly above the united first adambulacral 

 plates, and by having, instead of two gonads to a ray, a 

 considerable series along either side of each ray. Unfortu- 

 tunately none of these points except the first is brought out 

 in Perrier's figures or mentioned in the description, since 

 such details have generally been omitted as of no particular 

 importance. In part they furnish a key for a natural generic 

 analysis. 



Through the courtesy of Dr. H. L. Clark, of the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology, I recently examined an authentic 

 example of Freyella spinosa received from the Museum 

 d'Histoire Naturelle. It belongs to the group which I called 

 Freyellidea. This specimen, no. 1447, has two gonads to 

 each ray, each gonad consisting of a good-sized clump of 

 tubules with a single aperture to the exterior. There is no 

 syzygy between the first and second adambulacral plates; no 

 syzygial joint between the upper end of the second and third 

 ambulacral ossicles, although the interval is very narrow; 

 there are no supero-marginals directly above the first adambu- 

 lacrals. The first and second, and in one interbrachiuin also 

 the third, adambulacral plates are joined to the corresponding 

 adjacent plates of the next raj', although not so closely as 

 in the other generic group, there being considerable tissue 

 between the supposed plates. It was this feature, figured by 

 Perrier, which led me to suppose that F. spinosa belonged 

 with the group containing F. fecunda, F. spatulifera, and 

 others, in which the first adambulacrals are always tightly 

 joined. For the present it is best to consider this character 



* Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. J8) xx. p. 418. 



