No. 513] 



WAR-FISHES 



555 



convex abactinal psemlopiuUhc ; triangular actinal area 

 of about three V-shaped rows of tesselated plates; cur- 

 tailed inferomarginals ; numerous adamhulacral spines. 

 Type B. Ritteri, nov. (Fig. 4), has inferomarginals with 

 a distal group of small spines, elsewhere finely spinulose; 

 furrow spines about five to a plate and eight to twelve on 

 actinal side; no spines on superomarginals. California 

 (Prof. W. G. Ritter). 



The peculiar northern species, Allasterias rathbuni, is 

 represented on the Asiatic coast by A. versicolor (Sla. Bp. 

 of Japan), which has alternately one and two amlmlacral 



Many of the other species of Asteriida- are only remotely 

 allied to those known in other faunae. This family and 

 the genus Asterias are world-wide in distribution, but no 

 other region has sucli a variety of forms. 



The family Pterasterida? is also uncommonly well de- 

 veloped. Seven species have been found in shallow water, 

 besides others in deep water. They all belong to the re- 

 stricted genus Pteraster, except the remarkable form, P. 

 aporus Ludwig, for which I have proposed the new genus 



lum, and the spines around the nephridial or central pore 

 do not reach the marsupial membrane. The Retaster, 

 described by Clark from Puget Sound, I refer to Pteras- 

 ter (P. gracilis). The P. reticulars Ives, which ranges 

 from Puget Sound to middle Alaska, is a very large spe- 

 cies and is the most common one. P. hebes Ver. and P. 

 octaster Ver. are very unlike any species from other 



The genus Henricia (formerly Cribrella) is also repre- 

 sented by numerous species and varieties. //. tumida 

 Ver., from North Alaska, Cape Fox and C. Disburne, 

 Fig. 1, is remarkable for its large swollen disk and short, 

 stout rays. //. spatulifera Ver. southeast Alaska, Fig. 2, 

 is remarkable for its broad paddle-shaped or spatnUfbrm 

 adambulacral spines which are much crowded proximally 



