208 NATURAL HISTORY BULLETIN 



LuiDiA MARCGRAVii Liitken. 



Luidia marcgravii (Steenstnip MSS.) Liitken, op. cit., 1859, p. 43. Verrill, 



op. cit., 1867, p. 343. 

 Stella TTiarina, Marcgrave, Hist. E«rum nat. Brazil, viii, p. 189, 1648. 

 Asterias 4. ''The large starfish with eight or more slender arms" Browne, 



Civil and Nat. Hist. Jamaica, 393, 1756. 

 Luidia senegalensis (pars) Miill. and Trosch., Syst. Aster., p. 78, 1842 (non 



Lam.). Perrier, Envision, p. 262, 1876. E. Eathbun, op. cit., p. 149, 



1879. 



A large species, up to 360"'"' in diameter, with a disk of 51™^, 

 almost always with nine slender, flattened, narrow rays; rarely 

 eight. It is very fragile like most other species of the genus. 



The larger lateral paxillas are triseriate, rectangular, covered 

 with about fifteen obtuse, central granules, surrounded by num- 

 erous setiform marginal spinules. The paxillae in the median 

 radial area are much smaller and minute. 



A triangular area, bearing paxillge, is intercalated in the in- 

 terradial area, between the second and first rows of lateral 

 paxillge. 



The inferomarginal plates are densely covered with short flat 

 spines, larger centrally, and bear two larger, short, biserial, mar- 

 ginal spines. Adambulacral plates bear three or four com- 

 pressed spines, the two inner ones curved. 



The color, in life, according to Clark, is greenish or grayish 

 above, yellow below, much as in L. clathrata, from the same 

 places. 



Our dried specimens are light gray with a darker bluish 

 gray medial stripe, on each ray. Both have nine rays. 



Perrier (1876) states that he has compared specimens from 

 W. Africa with others from Brazil and Guadeloupe and found 

 no differences. 



Liitken, however, made a very careful study of the American 

 species and found it distinct, though nearly allied. He was 

 certainly a very expert authority on starflshes. 



Personally I have not been able to study a suflicient number 

 of specimens from both regions to warrant any decided opinion. 

 It is generally admitted that some other species of Echinoderms 

 are common to the W. African and American seas. 



Originally this species was recorded from Brazil by Marc- 



