WEST INDIAN STAEFISKES 



165 



ASTROPECTEN ARTICULATUS DUBIUS (Gray). 



Astropecten dubius G-ray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. vi, p. 182, 1840; 

 Synopsis, p. 4, 1866. 



Gray gave a very brief diagnosis of his species. He placed it 

 in a section of the genus destitute of spines on the superomar- 

 ginal plates. Other^^ase he only states that the marginal plates 

 are rather broad and granulated; the inferomarginals do not 

 project beyond the upper ones, and their marginal spines are 

 broad and depressed ; the rays are broad and tapering. 



These characters, so far as they go, all apply to the form of 

 A. articulatiis which lacks superomarginal spines. 



Perrier places duhius as a synonym of articidatus without com- 

 ment. He does not say whether he had seen the type, but he 

 mentions spineless examples of A. articulatus, as others have 

 done, and such as I have personally examined. Therefore, I 

 propose to retain the name dubius for this form or variety of 

 articulatus. It agrees with the latter in all respects, except in 

 lacking the small dorsal spines. 



It has apparently the same range as the typical form. I have 

 seen specimens from Florida and the Bahamas. 



Astropecten duplicatus Gray. 



Astropecten duplicatus Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. vi, p. 185, 



1840; Synopsis, p. 3, 1866. Perrier, Arch. Zool. Exper. et Gen., vol. 



V, p. 271, 1876 (no description.) 

 Astropecten valenciennii Miill. and Trosch., Syst. Aster., p. 68, 1842, (t. 



Perrier, from type.) 

 Astropecten varmlili^ Liitken, op. cit., 1859, p. 51, described. Verrill, op. 



cit., 1867, p. 343. A. Agassiz, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., i, 1869 (not 



described.) 



Plate xvi ; figures 2, 2a. Details of variety variabilis. 



Plate xxii ; figure 2. Plate xxiii ; figures 1, 2. 



This is the most spinose species of the genus found in the West 

 Indian fauna. The only good description published is that by 

 Liitken, 1859, which is in Danish, except a brief Latin diagnosis. 

 That of Gray is an imperfect diagnosis, three lines long, not 

 sufficient to distinguish it from several other species. It has 

 never been figured, so far as I know, although it is a common 



