Asteroidea of Portuguese East Africa. 51 



The lophial line is composed of about 17 to 19 rounded plates ; the proximal 

 5 of these bear tubercles, while the innermost of each line has a very large 

 tubercle ; a distinct pentagonal area is thus enclosed. The arrangement of the 

 plates within this area is irregular ; a few sometimes bear minute tubercles. 



The madrepore is lozenge-shaped, and lies between the two adjacent 

 plates which form one of the angles of the pentagon. 



Valvular pedicellaripe occur in a discontinuous row on each side of the 

 lophial line, while a few are also scattered on the interlophial plates and 

 in the pentagonal area. 



On the ventral surface the granulation is not prominent, and the plates 

 are distinct. A definite line of valvular pedicellarise extends on either 

 side of the ambulacral grove ; these lie usually longitudinally, but occasion- 

 ally oblique. Larger forms also occur, scattered on other plates. 



The ambulacral armature appears to consist of a single series, but near 

 the apex of the arms a trace of a second series of spines is discernible. 

 Each plate bears four almost equal spines ; these are obtuse, flattened at 

 the tips, and arranged in a palisade. 



Locality. — Station X., Montepes Bay. 



Pentaceios lincki, 1 de Blainville. 



Locality. — Stations I. to X., Bottom — sand, or sand and rock. 

 Previcncsly recorded from — Mergui ; Tuticorin ; Ceylon ; Mozambique ; 

 and Zanzibar. 



Pentaceros superbus, 1 Mobius. 



Locality. — Stations I. to X., Bottom— sand, or sand and rock. 

 Previously recorded, from — Tuticorin ; Mergui ; Sumatra. 



Pentaceros gracilis, 1 Liitken. 



Locality. — Stations I. to X., Bottom — sand, or sand and rock. 

 Previously recorded from — Mergui; East Australia; Port Molle and 

 Port Denison, Queensland. 



1 These three well-known species are extremely abundant over almost the whole 

 coast, and are a distinct menace to pearl-oyster beds. During the period over which 

 my work extended on the coast, more than five thousand of these were brought up in 

 the dredge, while on the shallow reefs thousands may be seen daily at low tide. The 

 colour patterns on all these species, but especially on P. lincki, are worthy of attention. 

 The general tone is in most cases blue, but the following variations in the colour of the 

 spines were observed — (1) central spines orange, the others creamy-white ; (2) all the spines 

 vermilion-red ; (3) all the spines creamy-white. Another type had bright yellow as a 

 groundwork, while the spines were orange-coloured. 



These few observations demonstrate the futility of basing any specific character on 

 coloration in brightly- coloured asteroids. J. J. S. 



