SHALLOW-WATER STARFISHES 



119 



towards the mouth are distinctly longer, more slender, and more 

 acute. The mouth is not much sunken and the adoral carinae are 

 short, composed of only two contingent pairs of plates, besides the 

 epiorals. The apical pairs of peroral spines are well developed, but 

 shorter and not stouter than the average adambulacrals ; the side 

 spine is about half as long, strongly divergent, so that those on 

 adjacent jaws often have their tips in contact and thus might form 

 a continuous fence around the oral area. The epiorals and adorals 

 are long and slender, tapered, subacute ; they often bear both minor 

 and major pedicellariae. The latter are small, ovate-lanceolate, sub- 

 acute. Minor pedicellariae are abundant on all the spines, forming 

 close wreaths on the dorsals and superomarginals, but secund clusters 



* 



FIG. 5. 



Leptasterias inequalis. iii, One of the jaws, a, a; a', a', apical or peroral spines; 

 a", lateral jaw-spines; e, the first pair of epioral or suboral spines; e' ', ad pair; p, pedi- 

 cellariae; X 17. iv, One of the adoral spines; X 17. v, A major pedicellaria more enlarged. 



on all the spines of the lower surface. Major pedicellariae are few 

 in number, small, ovate or ovate-lanceolate. 



The type is from Orca, Alaska (Prof. W. R. Coe, Harriman 

 Expedition). 



This is, quite probably, the young of a larger species, perhaps not 

 a Leptasterias, but I am unable to refer it to any known to me. It 

 somewhat resembles some of the five-rayed varieties of epichlora, 

 but the flat, closely imbricated dorsal ossicles, without many reticula- 

 tions, forbid its union with that protean species, at present, for no 

 intermediate specimens have been found. 



LEPTASTERIAS LEPTALEA Verrill, sp. nov. 



Plate xvin, figure 3 (type). 



A small and very delicate five-rayed species. Radii, 2.5 mm. and 

 15 mm. ; ratio, i : 6. Rays terete, evenly tapered. Dorsal ossicles 

 relatively strong, thickened, especially those in the median rows. 



