88 ASTEROIDEA. 



1. Zoroaster fulgens. 



Zoroaster fulgens, Wye. Thorns. Depths of the Sea, (1873) p. 154, 

 fig. 26; Sladen, Chall. Rep. Ast. (1889)" p. 418. 



Arms five, greatly elongated, stiff, sometimes much compressed 

 from side to side, with a prominent dorsal ridge formed of a series of 

 projecting knobs ; sometimes less compressed and the lophial line 

 less distinct. Ambulacra wide at base but tapering gradually, so 

 that the quadriserial arrangement of the subconical suckers ceases 

 before the tip of the arm is reached. The adambulacral plates 

 are hidden within the groove, and every alternate one forms a 

 process set at right angles to the long axis of the arm, and pro- 

 jecting into the groove ; owing to the position and form of the 

 plates the adambulacral spines intrude among the tubes. The 

 lower part of the sides of the arms are thickly covered with 

 needle-like spines, which become shorter the higher up they 

 are on the sides of the arms ; the plates on the dorsal surface 

 and disk have each a stronger spine, and are covered with a 

 thick coating of small sharp spines or spiniform tubercles. The 

 mouth is deeply depressed, and the spines which surround it are 

 the longest. The madreporite is small and inconspicuous. 



Colour in spirit, milky white ; when alive a " brilliant yellow 

 scarlet" (Wyv. Thorns.). 



Distribution. Atlantic, from Nova Scotia to Pernambuco on the 

 west, Faeroe and Hebrides on the east. 500-1350 fms. 



a. Faeroe Channel, 555 fms. « Triton ' Exp. (St. 11). 



h-f. Faeroe Channel, 570 fms. « Triton ' Exp. (St. 13). 



y. Faeroe Channel, 542 fms. ' Porcupine' Exp. (St. 47 a). 



SOLASTERIDjE {see p. 22). 



SOLASTER. 



Solaster, Forb. Mem. Wern. Soc. viii. (1839) p. 120 ; id. Brit. Starf 

 (1840) p. 109 ; M. Tr. Syst. Ast. (1842) p. 26; Viauier, Arch. Zool. 

 e.rper. vii. (1878) p. 134; Dan. $ Kor. Norsk. Nordh. Exp. Aster. 

 (1884) p. 51 *. 



Ibe evidence by which these authors rebut the distinctness of Solaster and 

 Crossaster as maintained by some writers, of whom I was once one (see Ann. & 

 Mag. vni. (1881) p. 140), is complete. 



