46 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
is not one representative of tlie nine genera lately recorded by Prof. 
Jeffrey Bell from the Andaman Islands. 
Asteroidea of Mergui Archipelago.* * * § — Mr. W. Percy Sladen reports 
that the collection of Starfishes made by Dr. John Anderson contains 
several new as well as rare forms, while some of the known species 
show variations which are sufficient to impart a character to the collec- 
tion as a whole. It is reasonable to expect that a number of new 
species may ultimately be found in the Mergui Archipelago. Of the 
twelve species lately enumerated by Bell from the Andamans, only one 
species occurs here, and of seven genera only two are represented. The 
new species described by the author are Astropecten Andersoni, A. noto- 
graptus, and Nepanthia suffarcinata. 
New Formation of Disc in broken Arm of an Ophiurid.t — Dr. E. 
Semon gives a description of a specimen of Ophiopsila aranea, which 
appears to have many points of interest. At first it looks as though 
there was a small disc, and three small arms in continuity with the 
larger arms. The small arms and the disc give every sign of being quite 
young, while the two larger arms have the aj^pearance of those of normal 
and older animals. Against the supposition that these two arms have 
had twice as intense a power of growth as the other three, we have to 
put the fact that the central disc is still immature. The author con- 
cludes that we have here a case of an arm which has been able to give 
rise to all the essential parts of an Ophiurid with the exception of the 
generative products. Were a case found in which these also were 
developed the creature would be an important element in the discussion 
of the problem of the continuity of germ-plasm. 
Prof. H. Ludwig J subjects this paper to severe scrutiny. He is not 
at all satisfied with the exactness of the figures given ; he argues against 
almost all of Dr. Semon’s points, one by one, and he concludes that the 
specimen described was a not quite adult Ophiopsila aranea which had 
lost its disc as far as the peristome, three of its arms, and the tips of the 
other two, and was now replacing all these parts by regeneration. By 
Dr. Semon’s courtesy he had himself the opportunity of examining the 
specimen. 
Holothurioidea of the ‘ Gazelle. ’§ — Dr. K. Lamport gives an account 
of the forty-one species collected during the voyage of the ‘ Gazelle ’ ; 
among them seven species and one variety are new. Unfortunately this 
surveying vessel did not obtain any examples of the Elasipoda, as no 
very deep dredging was made. 
Ccelenterata. 
Coelenterata of Canary Islands.|| — Prof. C. Chun gives a short 
account of a new species of Perigonomus, which he calls P. sulfureus. 
As a result of his dredging he is able to show that the most common 
Craspedote Medusa of the Atlantic, Aglaura hemistoma, is essentially a 
* Journ. Linn. Soc., xxi. (1889) pp. 319-30 (1 pi.). 
X Jenaisch. Zeitschr., xxiii. (1889) pp. 585-94 (1 pi.). 
X Zool. Anzeig., xii. (1889) pp. 454-7. 
§ Zool. Jahrb., iv. (1889) pp. 806-58 (1 pi.). 
11 SB. K. Prcnss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1889, pp. 524-6. 
