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Show 1893.] PROF. BELL ON ODONTASTER AND THE ALLIED GENERA. 259 3. On Odontaster and the Allied or Synonymous Genera of Asteroid Echinoderms. By F. JEFFREY BELL, M.A., Sec.R.M.S. [Eeceived February 27, 1893.] Although I have no intention of pursuing as far as I logically should an investigation which would carry one deep into the perplexities of the classification of the Asteroidea, it seems advisable to sav a few words as to Odontaster. As defined by Prof. Verrill in 18801, the characters of this genus are, perhaps, a little obscure ; Mr. Sladen2 says of it:-" I have great hesitation in placing Odontaster with the Archasteridae ; it may possibly prove to be more closely allied to the Pentagon-asteridse; in any case it appears to be an annectant genus between the two groups." An important character in Odontaster is the possession of a " large, strong, sharp, erect or everted tooth." Among the new genera of Pentagonasteridae described in the ' Challenger' Report, one, Gnathaster, has the " mouth-plates with a prominent keel, developed aborally into a hyaline spiniform prolongation;" but no ground is given for suspecting that there is any relationship to Odontaster. In his interesting and instructive Report on the Starfishes of the Mission to Cape Horn, Prof. Perrier diagnoses a new genus, which he calls Asteroclon ; the " pieces dentaires " in species of this genus carry " chacune un grand piquant vitreux reflechi en dehors " or support " ensemble un piquant impair, unique, vitreux, interradial" (op. cit. p. K. 132). This genus, though " with an apparent resemblance to the Pentagonasteridse, is regarded as, on the whole, having more affinity with the Archasteridae, and reference is made, on the page cited, to Verrill's Odontaster. O n p. K. 188 of the same memoir, Prof. Perrier makes some remarks on the genus Gnathaster, which he finds to be synonymous with, and to have priority as a name over, Asterodon-unless, he adds, " les Odontaster de M . Verrill ne soient des formes generiques identiques, ce qui parait vraisemblable." More fortunate than either Prof. Perrier or Mr. Sladen, I have been able to make a study of specimens of Odontaster hispidus, presented to the Trustees of the British Museum by the United States National Museum and authenticated by its authority. It soon became obvious that M . Perrier's supposition was correct, and the three names, therefore, are synonyms, Odontaster having a priority of nine years. Like the English observer, the French one remarks that the forms of this genus are " manifestement des formes de passage." But while the former places his genus with the Pentagonasteridae, the latter assigns his to the Archasteridae. 1 Amer. Journ. Sci. xx. (1880) p. 402. a Chall. Eep. Ast. (1889) p. xxix. |
