26 



referred the specimens to Verrills species because they 

 agree well with it in other characteristic. The number 

 of papillae apparently does not afford a very reliable 

 specific characteristic, however. In Solaster papposus I 

 have found normally 5—7 papillae in the outer adambulacral 

 row, but the number may vary between 2 and 9, and 

 in several Solaster endeca from Hardanger 5—9 papillae 

 were present. 



Solaster abyssicola was previously known only from 

 the east coast of North America, where it was taken ac- 

 cording to Verrill at several stations between 35° 45.5' 

 and 39° 5.5' N., 1543— 3813 m. The species therefore ap- 

 pears to be new to the European fauna. It is possible, 

 however, that this was the species taken by the "Thor" 

 in 1903 south of Iceland (stat. 166, 62° 57' N. 19°58'W., 

 931 m.). For it is recorded by dr. Mortensen under the 

 name Solaser n. sp. (S. earlii Verr. aff. 1 ), a species to 

 which Verrill originally referred his Solaster abyssicola' 2 ). 



So/aster papposus var. septentrionalis Sladen. 

 Crossaster papposus var. septentrionalis Sladen, Proc. Roy. Soc. 



Edinburgh, vol. 11, 1882, p. 704. 



9/ 8 _ to/ 8> s t a t. 102, 60 : 57' N. 4 : 38' W., 1098 m., dark sand and 

 clay, temp, -r- 0.9 Cel. Two specimens measuring: 



Diameter 73 mm. 71 mm. 



Arm-radius 38 „ 37 „ 



Disc-radius 17 „ 16.5 „ 



r : R 1 : 2.24 1 : 2.24 



Number of arms 10 10 



Number of paxillse in the actinal 



area 4—7 6—9 



Number of inner adambulacral 



papillae 4 — 6 5 — 6 



Number of outer adambulacral pa- 

 pillae 5—8 5—8 



Disc arched, the arms, broad at base, taper rapidly 

 toward the point. Paxillae small and numerous, the largest 

 bear about 30 spines. The abactinal skeleton consists of 

 short, broad rods united together so as to form an 

 irregular meshwork. In the mesh-spaces only a papula as 

 a rule is present, there may be as many as three, however. 

 In several mesh-spaces isolated rods occur besides. The 

 skeleton most closely resembles that of a 77 mm. spec- 

 imen of Solaster papposus from the Varangerfjord 3 ). 



') Schmidt: Fiskeriundersokelser ved Island og Faereerne 1903 

 (1904) p. 22. 



2 ) Ann. Rep. U.S. Fish Comm. 1885, p. 541. Cfr. Amer. Journ. 

 ser. 3, vol. 49, 1895, p. 200. 



3 ) Grieg: "Michael Sars" Asteroidea, Bergens Museums Aarbog, 

 1906, no. 13, p. 64, tab. fig. 7. 



[REP. OF THE "MICHAEL SARS" NORTH 



Most of the plates of the inner adambulacral row 

 bear five papillae, but the number varies betwen 4 and 6. 

 In the outer row 5 to 8 papillae are found, most often 7, 

 and those in the middle are largest, the distal ones 

 smallest. 



The colour is pink, lightest on the actinal side. 



The specimens agree in all essentials with Sladen's 

 Solaster (Crossaster) papposus var. septentrionalis, which 

 was likewise taken in the cold area of the Faroe — Shet- 

 land Channel ("Knight Errant" 1880, stat. 2, 60° 29' N. 

 8° 19' W., 686 m., temp, -f- 0.56° Cel.) I have therefore 

 referred them to that variety. I ought to mention, how- 

 ever, that Sladen's form has somewhat shorter arms, and 

 the proportion r : R is 1:1.94, while it is 1:2.24 in the 

 two "Michael Sars" specimens. This difference is not of 

 vital importance, however. 



Solaster squamatus D0derlein 

 Solaster papposus var. squamatus Dederlein, Wissensch. Meeres- 

 untersuch. N. F. Bd. 4, Abt. Helgoland, Heft 2, 1900, p. 208, 

 tab. 6, figs 5—5 c. 



I0 /8— u /s, stat. 102, 60 : 57' N. 4° 38' W., 1098 m., dark sand and 

 clay, temp. 0.9 Cel. Two specimens measuring: 



Diameter 76 mm. 73 mm. 



Arm-radius 43 „ 38 „ 



Disc-radius 21 „ 18 „ 



r : R 1 : 2.05 1 : 2.11 



Number of arms 10 10 



Number of paxillae in the actinal area 5 — 8 4 — 9 



Number of inner adambulacral papillae 4 — 6 4 — 5 



Number of outer adambulacral papillae 5 — 8 4 — 7 



These two specimens are distinguished from the two 

 before mentioned individuals of Solaster papposus var. 

 septentrionalis, which were likewise taken at stat. 102 by 

 a somewhat more arched disc and comparatively shorter 

 arms. The proportion r : R may, however, vary in Sol- 

 aster squamatus between 1 : 1.8 and 1 : 2.6, most often it 

 is 1 : 2.2—2.3, as will be seen from the material col- 

 lected by the "Voeringen" and the "Michael Sars". The 

 paxillae are low, cylindrical and furnished with short 

 spines; in S. paoposus var. septentrionalis, on the other 

 hand, they are conically pointed and bears longer spines, 

 the middle ones longest, which further adds to their 

 conical appearance. 



The abactinal skeleton consists of scales, among 

 which small spaces are found with most often one papullae 

 only. The skeleton resembles most nearly that of a 

 41 mm. specimens from the cold area east of Iceland 

 ("Michael Sars", 1900 stat. 10, 64° 53' N. 10° W., 360 m., 

 temp -4- 0.69° Cel.) 1 ) 



l ) Grieg: "Michael Sars" Asteroidea, pag. 62, tab. 1, fig. 4. 



JAMES A. GRIEG 



