66 



kronede med ligestore Kalknaale, ere hine Fremragninger 

 baade af en mere uregelmæssig conisk Form og temmelig 

 uregelmæssigt spredte. Bugsiden, som hos P. pulvillus 

 er ensfarvet lys gulgraa, er hos den nye Art lys gulag- 

 tig, næsten gulhvid, med talrige livlig rødgule eller orange- 

 røde Linier, der løbe parallele med hinanden fra Tvær- 

 finnerne udad til Randen af Skiven og Armene. Disse 

 Linier (Fig. 1, e) ere egentlig tynde liniedannede ophøiede 

 Hudfolder, Fortsættelser af de paa begge Sider af Bugfu- 

 rerne siddende Tværfinner og svare følgelig i Antal til disse. 

 Paa den opad bøiede Spids af Armene sidder, ligesom 

 hos P. militaris og P. pulvillus, en stærkt iøinefalclende 

 blodrød Øieplet (Fig. 2, k). — Sugefødderne endelig (c), hvilke 

 hos hine tvende Arter ere hvide eller gulgraa, ere her smuld 

 fiolette med snehvid Sugeskive, hvilken ligesom hos hine 

 er svampdannet eller lidt bredere end selve Sugefoden; 

 imod Armspidsen blive Sugefødderne blegere, og de aller- 

 yderste ere næsten farveløse. 



Saameget vor Søstjerne end ved første Øiekast, naar 

 den sees fra Rygsiden, ligner P. pulvillus, saa forskj eilig 

 viser den sig ved den nærmere Undersøgelse af dens Bug- 

 side (Fig. 1). Bug- eller Ambulacralfurerne ere nemlig paa- 

 faldende brede i Forhold til samme hos de 2 andre Arter, 

 og de deri staaende Sugefødder (c c) baade større og langt 

 talrigere, og ved nøiere Eftersyn viste sig den overraskende 

 Kjendsgjerning, at de i hver Straale ikke, som hos hine, 

 danne 2, men 4 Rader ligesom i Asteracanthiadernes Fa- 

 milie. Kun inderst ved Munden er der i de 2 sidste 

 Tværrader kun 3 Sugefødder, ligesaa ved den yderste 

 Ende af Armene, hvor de som sædvanlig ere mindre ud- 

 viklede, kortere og tyndere, 3 og tilsidst kun 2 i en 

 Tværrad. I Længderetning danne Sugefødderne 4 lige, 

 i Tværretning lidt skraa Rækker. I hver Længderad af 

 en Straale taltes 41 Sugefødder. Der er saaledes, med 

 Fradrag af de inderst ved Munden og yderst ved Armspid- 

 sen manglende, omtrent 150 Sugefødder i hver af de 5 

 Straaler — - et ualmindeligt Antal af tilmed store Suge- 

 fødder i en saa kort (kun l l / a " lang) Straale. Hos 2 af 

 de største Exemplarer (det ene %%"y det andet 27 8 " i 

 Tværmaal) af P. pulvillus taltes derimod kun respective 

 72 og 68 Sugefødder i hver Straale, altsaa omtrent Halv- 

 delen af Antallet hos nærværende Art, og hos det største 

 (3" i Tværmaal) af mine Exemplarer af P. militaris, en 

 Art, som er udmærket ved længere Arme {% Gang læn- 

 gere end hos de 2 andre Arter) taltes i hver Straale kun 

 98 Sugefødder. 



De paa Adambulacralpladerne til begge Sider af Bug- 

 furerne siddende Tværfinner (Fig. 2, d) ere saa talrige og 

 tæt sammentrængte og deres frie Rand derhos saa mangfol- 

 dig foldet, at de kun vanskelig kunne tælles. Man overbe- 

 viser sig imidlertid snart om, at deres Antal svarer til Suge- 



warts or prominences of. the outer dorsal skin. In the- 

 P. pulvillus, the paxillæ of which are crowned with cal- 

 careous needles of equal size, those prominences are both 

 of a more irregularly conical form, and rather irregularly 

 distributed. The ventral side, which in P, pulvillus is 

 uniformly light yellow-grey, is in the new species UgU 

 yelloivish, almost yellowish white, with numerous bright red- 

 dish yellow or orange-red lines running parallel to each 

 other from the transverse fins outwards to the margin 

 of the disc and the arms. These lines (fig. 1, e ) are 

 properly thin linear raised folds of the skin, continuations 

 of the transverse fins situated on both sides of the ven- 

 tral furrows, and correspond consequently in number to 

 these fins. On the upward bent point of the arms there 

 is situated, as in P. militaris and P. pulvillus a strikingly 

 remarkable blood red eye-spot (fig. 2, k). And finally the 

 water-feet, (c) which in the two other species are white 

 or yellowish-grey, are here of a beautiful violet color with 

 snow-white suckers which, as in the other species are 

 sponge-shaped or a little broader than the water-foot 

 itself; towards the point of the arm, the water-feet are 

 paler; and those at the extremity are nearly colorless. 



Much as our star-fish, when viewed from the dorsal 

 side, appears at first glance to resemble P. pulvillus, it 

 shews itself, on closer examination of the ventral side 

 (fig. 1) to be very different from that species. The ven- 

 tral or ambulacral furrows are remarkably wide as com- 

 pared with those in the two other species, and the water- 

 feet therein (c c) are both larger and much more numerous; 

 and on closer inspection the surprising fact was ascer- 

 tained that in each ray they do not as in the other 

 species form 2, but 4 rows as in the family of the Astera- 

 canthiadæ. Only at the innermost part near the mouth, 

 there are in the two last transverse rows only 3 water 

 feet, and at the extreme end of the arm, where they as 

 usual are less developed, shorter and thinner, 3 and at 

 last only 2 in a transverse row. In the longitudinal di- 

 rection the water-feet form 4 straight series, slightly obli- 

 que transversely. In each longitudinal row of a ray there 

 were counted 41 water-feet. There are thus, exclusively 

 of those wanting at the innermost part near the mouth 

 and at the outermost points of the arms, about 150 water- 

 feet in each of the 5 rays; an unusual number, (and 

 moreover large water-feet) in a so short (only 1% U ) ray. 

 In 2 of the largest specimens (one 2V a " and the other 

 27 8 " in diameter) of P. pulvillus, there were counted 

 respectively only 72 and 68 water-feet in each ray, that 

 is about half of the number in the present species; and 

 in the largest (3" diameter) of my specimens of P. mili- 

 taris, a species distinguished by longer arms (V 2 as long 

 again as in the other 2 species) there were counted in 

 each ray only 98 water-feet. 



The transverse fins (fig. 2, d) on the adambulacral 

 plates on both sides of the ventral fins, are so numerous 

 and so close together, and their free margin moreover so 

 intricately folded that they cannot easily be counted. It 

 can however soon be ascertained that their number cor- 



