108 Ml. \V. K. Fisher's y^otes on Asteroidea. 



from oft' California, deep water) was described by me as a 

 neighbour of llie curious [)o]yhvi\c\\\nie Pi/cnopodia oi Stimp- 

 soii. I think the genus is related, instead, to CoronasUr. 

 It is notable for the suppression of the alternate supero- 

 marginal plates and the reduction of the abactinal skeleton to 

 spaced circular plates without trace of conneclives. The 

 marginal and abactiiuil plates bear an acicular spine surrounded 

 by a retractile sheath with an ex|)anded distal crown covereil 

 with numerous pedicelhuia^. Tiie anibulacral, adambulacral, 

 and oral plates are similar to those of Coronasler. 



In Lahidiasler, Coroiiaster, Ralhbunaster, and certain 

 genera of the Brisingidte there are two gonads to each ray ; 

 each gonad opens upon the side of the ray at some distance 

 from the base. All three genera, as well as the Brisingidre, 

 have a single ampulla to each tube-foot. 



'I'he family Pedicellasteridte, if these views are correct, 

 would consist of the subfamily Pedicellasterinaj with Pedi- 

 cellasfcr, Lytaslti\ and Gasfraster, and of the Labidiasterinie 

 with Labidiastei\ Coronasler, and Rathhunaster. 



Aslerina coronata and Astcrina cristata. — In the ' Archiv 

 fiir Naturgeschichte,' vol. xxxii., 18G6, j). 73, von Martens 

 describes Asterina coronata from Batjan, Molucca Islands, 

 and from Larentuka, Flores Island, and records its occurrence 

 at Amboina. His description states that the relation of the 

 minor to the major radius is as 1 to 2 or 2^, that the abactinal 

 plates are so arranged that the dorsal surface has a honey- 

 combed appearance, the i)lates bearing five or more spiuelets, 

 and that scattered over the dorsal surface are groups of two 

 to four heavy spiuelets with a common base, such groups 

 being found on the sides and radial regions of the ray, but 

 not close to the border. On the disk these special spiuelets 

 outline an irregular pentagon. 



In the ' Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washing- 

 ton,' vol. xxix., p. 27, Feb. 1916, I de:^(iY\hed Asterina cristata 

 from the Caroline Islands, the special peculiarity of which is 

 the presence ol a variable number of abactinal plates (upward 

 of fifty to a ray), elevated and tubercular in form, and sur- 

 mounted by one to five unequal, robust, pointed s|)ines, the 

 largest being four or live times as long as the s})iuelets of the 

 other j)laies, and many times greater in diameter. These 

 elevated plates, with their tuft of enlarged spines, I take to 

 be the same as von Martens's " Buschel von 2-4 starken 

 Stacheln mit gemeinsamer Basis,'' which he says, " stehen 

 auf dtn Armen ziemlich zerstreut, sowohl auf dem Riickeu 

 als an den 8eiten, aber nie ganz nahe am Rande." Thus 



