172 HAWAIIAN AND OTHER PACIFIC ECHINI. 



Asthenosoma varium Grube. 



Asthenosoma varium Grube, 1868. 45" Jahres-Bericht d. Schles. GeselL, p. 42. 

 Asthenosoma Grubei A. Agassiz, 1879. Proc. Am. Acad., XIV, p. 200. 1881. " Chal- 

 lenger" Ech., Pis. XV-XVII. 



East Indies. Littoral. 



There seems to be no sufficient ground, in the present state of our 

 knowledge, for regarding varium and Grubei as distinct. It is certainly 

 to be doubted whether either of the two succeeding forms is really different 

 from varium, 



Asthenosoma urens Saras. 



Cyanosoma urens Paul and Fritz Sarasin, 1886. Zool. Anz., IX, p. 80. 



Asthenosoma urens Paul and Fritz Sarasin, 1888. Ergeb. Nat. Forsch. Ceylon, I, p. 86 ; 



Pis. X-XVII. 



Ceylon. Littoral. 



It seems very doubtful whether this species is distinguishable from 

 varium, but further study of fresh material in the East Indies will be neces- 

 sary before the point can be settled. Attention ought to be called to the 

 astonishing discrepancy between the Sarasins' colored figure (PI. X) and 

 the photograph given by Doderlein (Semon's Zool. Forsch. Aust., PI. LX, 

 fig. 3) of what he tells us is an " Originalexemplar " of urens from the 

 Sarasins' collection. It is incredible that this photograph can represent an 

 animal which had ever had the coloration shown in the Sarasins' figure, 

 yet strangely enough Doderlein makes no reference to the color. If urciis 

 has the coloration shown by the Sarasins it must be very different from 

 varium ; while, on the other hand, if Doderlein's figure represents the normal 

 appearance of urens it must be very near, if not identical with, Grube's 

 species. The differences described by Doderlein between varium and urens 

 do not seem to us to be very weighty, and his suggestion that the two 

 forms are varieties of one species seems quite probable, if they are dis- 

 tinguishable at all. 



Asthenosoma heteractis Bedford. 



Asthenosoma heteractis Bedford, 1900. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 278 ; PI. XXI, fig. 2. 



Singapore; 5 fathoms. 



We do not consider the characters assigned to this species as of very 

 great importance, and we are strongly inclined to think that the original 

 specimens are young examples of varium. 



