118 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



Pectinura maculata. 



Ophiarachna maculata Verrill, 1869. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 12, p. 388. 

 Pectinura maculata Verrill, 1869. Amer. Journ. Sci., (2) 48, p. 431 (footnote). 



New Zealand. Littoral. 



Of three specimens in the M. C. Z. collection, one (disc diameter 41 mm.) has 

 five small but distinct supplementary oral plates ; a second (disc diameter 30 mm.) 

 shows one very narrow supplementary oral plate, but the lower surface of the 

 disc is so badly damaged it is impossible to decide positively whether this was 

 the only one present or not; the third (disc diameter 17 mm.) has not the slight- 

 est trace of such supplementary plates. Pores seem to be constantly present 

 between the first and second under arm-plates, but in the smallest specimen they 

 can scarcely be seen on two of the arms. 



Pectinura assimilis. 

 Ophiopeza assimilis Bell, 1888. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 282, pi. 16, fig. 5. 



Port Jackson, N. S. W. 



As this species does not seem to have been met with since its original descrip- 

 tion was published, it is a pleasure to record a specimen in good condition in the 

 M. C. Z. collection with the disc 25 mm. in diameter. This specimen was ac- 

 quired by purchase and bears the label " South Australia ? " The arms are only 

 about 75 mm. in length and are thus only three times the diameter of the disc. 

 The granulation of the disc is coarser than in Bell's type, as I find only six or 

 seven grains to a millimeter, while he counted nine. The M. C. Z. specimen has 

 apparently never been in alcohol, or at most only for a short time, for in its dry 

 condition the colors are so distinct they must show very nearly the appearance of 

 life. The disc is pale brown, distinctly marked with an irregular star of tawny- 

 brown, each ray of which continues out onto the basal joints of the arm. The 

 lower surface of the disc is yellowish-brown, with the oral shields somewhat 

 darker. The arms, seen from above, are banded with dirty-whitish, the ground 

 color being tawny-brown. Bell's description would indicate a somewhat different 

 coloration for his specimen, which, however, was apparently an alcoholic one. There 

 appears to be a slip of the pen in Bell's description with reference to the measure- 

 ments. He says the arms are " about four and a half times " the diameter of disc, 

 and then he gives the following measurements : " Diam. of disc 100 (ca.) mm. ; 

 length of arms 24 mm." This may mean that the disc is 24 and the arms 

 100 mm., or possibly the " 100 " is a misprint for 10 and the " 24 " a misprint 

 for 42, but in either case the arms would be only four times the disc diameter. 



Pectinura aequalis. 



Ophiopeza aequalis Lyman, 1880. Anniv. Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., p. 9, pi. 2, 

 figs. 23-25. 1882, " Challenger " Oph., p. 12, pi. 27, figs. 7-9. 



Northeast of New Guinea, 150 fms. ; west of Kei Islands, 114 fms. 



