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



V. — Notes on Asteroidea. — 11. By Walter K. FiSilER, 

 Director, Hopkins Marine Stalioii of Stanford University, 

 California. 



[Plate XIIL] 



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

 recently puhlished in this Maoazine, I divid<^d the old genus 

 Fretiella into two groups, Fnyella and Frei/ellidea. I made 

 Freydla 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 adanibulacral plates, a syzygial joint between the 

 first and second adanibulacral plates, conspicuous proximal 

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

 to form a pair directly above tiie united first adanibulacral 

 jjlates, 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 

 examj)le of Freyella spinosa received fr<jni the Museum 

 d'llistoire 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 adanibulacral plates; no 

 syzygial joint t)etweeu the upper end of the second and third 

 aml)ulacral 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 interbrachiuni also 

 the third, adanibulacral plates are joined to the corresponding 

 adjacent plates of the next ray, altiiough not so closely as 

 in the other generic group, there being considerable tissue 

 between the suj)posed plates. It was this feature, figured by 

 Perrier, which led me to sup])ose that F. spinosa b.donged 

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

 others, in which the first adambulacrals are always tightly 

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



» Aiiii. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (8) xx. p. 418. 



