Mr. W. K. Fislier — Xotes on Asteroidea. ')95 



Now if the <^(-»iius Piedasterias is to rest on the structure of 

 the luar^inah, it luu.st obviou.sly include perrien anti lactea. 

 Tlie presence in belyicie and studeri ot several plates (instead 

 of only two) in each lateral har appears to represent simply a 

 slightly less degenerate condition of the ahactinal skeleton. 

 In lentra one or two small plates are sporadically piesnt 

 above the relatively large supcromarginal. Tnese small 

 plates are honjologous to the addilional laleral plates of he't/icoi. 

 It tollows, therefore, that there is nothing eharacleristic 

 about the marginal plates ot chirophoru, whicii are praciically 

 identical with those ot the eailier Li/susterias, Fishor (type, 

 A. perrieri). 



It Fiadasttiias is to be maintained as a genus, it must be 

 on the strength ot the large s[)atulate, unguieulate, straigiit 

 pedieellarito. But in P. jojf'rei, which has the unguieulate 

 pedicellariie in a less developed Ibrni, the lateral ares are not 

 those of chiroplioia, the type, but ot" belyicm, in Ludwig's 

 second group. If the pedicellariie are an index of relation- 

 ship, then the details of the lateral arcs are unimportant, 

 possibly not constant within a species. 



The genus Fiedasterias appears to have been founded upon 

 a uiisconception. Ludwig (^loc, cit. p. 42) says of chiro- 

 phora : — " i)ie tSpangen haben (niit Ausnahme der Arms[)itze) 

 keine oberen iiandstachel ; grosse Tatzon pedicellarien vor- 

 iianden." Verrill {loc.cil.) diagnoses the genus : — " . . . The 

 upper marginal plates being absent, except as rudinients 

 distally." Ludwig states that the upper marginal plates are 

 present. Verrill's " upper marginal plates ^^ is a lapsus for 

 oberen Iiandstachel. 



Until the species of Lijsasterias are better known, 

 Fd'dasterias can well be dispensed with. 



Anaslerias octoradiata, Koeliler*. — This curious eight- 

 rayed sea-star has been well described and figured by Dr. K. 

 Kcehler. It differs in several {)arliculars from typical 

 Anasteiias (i.e., Li/saaterias). 1 have examined the type 

 and only specimen, which is now in the U.JS. National 

 Museum (no. 362U0;. it has a t't>«</>/e/(? irregularly reticulate 

 abactinal skeleton, consisting of very numerous, small, but 

 fairly robust, oval, elliptical-oblong, and a few irregularly 

 three-lobed plates (which latter perhaps represent the primary 

 dorso-laterals). 1 liero is an irregular carinal series, of which 

 the plates are no larger tlian the others. The al)actiiial 



* • Scieuce IJuUeliu, Mustiuui uf the JJruukhn Institute of Arts uud 

 Scieuces,' vol. ii. uo. 4, p. 04, pi. xiv. lijis. 1-7 : Sioutli Georgia. 



