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BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
generally much less than 100 mm. in diameter. Color very variable; some are light brown with dark 
blotches, some chocolate brown, some purplish brown, and some almost black. Rays very variable in 
size and number, a specimen with 5 equal rays being a rarity. It is not uncommon to find a single 
ray creeping about by itself, and sooner or later such a ray reproduces a new disk and 4 or 5 new rays. 
This remarkably variable species is represented by 16 specimens in the Fish Hawk collection and 2 in 
Mr. Gray’s collection. Of these, 9 have 6 rays, 6 have 5 rays, 1 has 4 rays, and 2 consist of only 1 ray 
each. Very few have the rays even approximately equal, and in no less than 6 specimens 1 ray is so 
much larger than the others that it is clearly reproducing a new disk with the rays. In these the 
madrepore plate is usually lacking, but in one of them there are 3. Of the other 12 specimens, 9 
have 2 madrepore plates, 1 has 1, and the 2 single rays have none. 
Collected at Ensenada Honda (Culebra), San Juan, and Ponce. 
11. Echinaster crassispina Verrill. 
This starfish belongs to an entirely different order from the preceding. It is seldom 100 mm. 
across, and is reddish brown or yellowish brown in color. Its exact range is not known, but it is 
considered by some writers as identical with E. spinosus, which occurs on muddy bottoms and among 
mangroves throughout the West Indies. Eleven specimens from Catafio, San Juan Harbor, and 
Puerto Real and stations 6059, 6072, and 6091 vary much in color, from bright yellow brown to dark 
red brown, but agree very well in general form and appeai-ance. The largest has R=48, r=ll, R=4lr; 
the smallest has R=18, r=4, R=4ijr. In others, R=3r, R=4r, and R=5r. They are all clearly 
representatives of Verrill’s species crassispina. Sladen gives crassispina as a synonym of spinosus Retzius, 
but these Porto Rican specimens are so easily distinguished from Jamaican specimens of spinosus, that 
it seems better to use Verrill’s name. The short, blunt arms, with the rather few, very coarse spines, 
are quite characteristic, and none of the specimens before me have the bright-red color of the Jamaican 
spinosus. 
Several other starfishes may be looked for on the shores of Porto Rico, as they 
are common in other parts of the West Indies. They are closely related to those 
already listed, and may be found in similar situations. Astropecten articulatus (Say) 
may be distinguished from either of the Astropectens given above by the presence of 
a small, blunt tubercle on the marginal plates near the tip of the ray, but there are 
no spines on these plates. In color and general appearance this species approaches 
antillensis very closely. Asterina rninuta (Gray) is smaller and less pentagonal than 
folium , and the color is pretty uniformly white. The plates along the edges of the 
furrows in which the feet lie carry 2 or 3 spines on their free margin (not I or 5, as 
in folium), and the plates in the interradii of the upper surface carry only 1 spine 
(rarely 2) instead of 3 or I, as in folium. 
Another starfish allied to Asterina is Stegnaster wesseli Perrier. This form is 
somewhat larger — 20 to 35 mm. across and having the disc rather high (4 to 7 mm.). 
The whole animal is covered with a thick, granular skin, which conceals the under- 
lying plates. The color is whitish. It occurs under rocks with Asterina and Linckia. 
If Echinaster spinosus is a different species from E. crassispina , probably it also 
occurs in Porto Rico. It may be recognized by rather long, tapering arms, R>5r, 
numerous small, sharp spines, and its deep but bright red color. It is a handsome 
starfish, and should be easily recognized. Possibly Asterias tenuispina, , which occurs 
in the Bermudas, or some other Asterias , may occur in Porto Rico. The genus may 
be recognized by the absence of marginal plates, by the irregular meshwork of the 
skeleton on the upper side, and the numerous spines of various sizes. A. tenuispina 
has a variable number of arms, I to 9, but usually 7. The color is reddish yellow, 
with more or less violet marking. 
