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



coronata, as it possesses the prominent abactinal plates so 

 characteristic of coronata. Thus there are records from 

 southern Japan to northern Australia. 



As a beginning towards straightening the tangle of appa- 

 rent races, I would suggest the subjoined scheme. Any 

 further evidence for or against it, or in any way bearing upon 

 the status of As/.erina coronata, will be most welcome : — 



a\ Abactinal spiniform pedicell arise present ; 

 8 adambulacral furrow-spinelets ; 8 or 9 

 marginal mouth-spinelets ; 12 to 14 en- 

 larged abactinal plates Asterina coronata eu- 



erces* (Fisher). (Palawan.) 

 « 2 . No spiniform pedicellarire present : furrow- 

 spinelets 4 to 6 ; marginal mouth-spinelets 

 5 or 6. 

 b l . Actinal intermediate spinelets usually 

 more than 3 ; near the furrow 5 or 6, 

 forming a circle or group (not a straight 

 comb); furrow-spinelets 5 or 6 ; 20 to 

 25 prominent abactinal plates to each 



fifth of body Asterina coronata fasci- 



cularis f, subsp. n. (Migupou ; Port Essington?) 

 b 2 . Actinal intermediate spinfelets 2 or 3, but 

 not often 4. 

 c 1 . Furrow-spinelets 4 or 5 ; actinal inter- 

 mediate spinelets usually 2 ; promi- 

 nent abactinal plates moderate in 

 number (up to 25 to each fifth of 

 body) and with as many as 25 spinelets 



to a plate J Asterina coronata coro- 

 nata, von Martens. (Southern Japan, Batjan, Larentuka.) 



* Fisher, Proc. Biological Society of Washington, vol. xxx., INI ay 23, 

 1917, p. 91. Ulugan Bay (near mouth of Baheli River), Palawan Island, 

 Philippine Islands, 2 to 5 feet, mud, sand, sea-weeds. 



f This new race is certainly different as regards the actinal inter- 

 mediate armature. Von Martens states tbat there are two spinelets in 

 coronata. Of course, specimens may prove to be variable. 



M. Alvin Seale, of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, who has 

 lived many years in the Philippine Islands, tells me he has sailed past a 

 fairly well-known Migupou Point ; but I have not been able to locate it, 

 with available maps, on Mindanao or ou Luzon. Mr. Seale does not 

 recall upon which of the two islands the point is found. It is quite 

 possible that this is the locality from which so many of Gray's types 

 were derived. 



X So far as true coronata is concerned, the remarks concerning the 

 number of prominent plates and the number of spinelets on these plates 

 are conjectural. These observations refer to the Japanese form, described 

 and figured by Dr. S. Goto (' A Descriptive Monograph of Japanese 

 Asteroidea,' 1914, p. 650, pi. xix., figs. 279-281), which may, of course, 

 be quite distinct from typical coronata of the Moluccan region, 



