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axial fossa . Costae visible as fine striations at the distal part of the corallites.
We received another specimen from Prof. FRICKE, who has collected it with his submersible " Geo"
in a depth of 73 m.
Mate ri al :
Gulf of Aq aba : T. Aviv NS 9288 (Eilat, 60 m).
HLM Fri 32- 1 (Eilat, Mar. BioI. Lab., 73 m ).
D is t rib uti 0 n: Red Sea; Saya de Malha ; Maldives; Ceylon (ORTMANN , 1889); Mergui Archipelago
(DUNCAN, 1889); Singapore; Philippines (NEMENZO, 1960); Japan (YA SE, SUGIYAMA & EGUCHI, 1936);
Palau Isis.; Great Barrier Reef; ew Caledonia ; Rotuma .
Remark s : The first reference to Euphyllia from the Red Sea is by CROSSLAND (1939: 24). He
wrote in a foornote : "The genus Euphyllia has not hitherto been recorded fro m the Red Sea, but I have a
clear recollection of it at Dongonab". In 1952 CROSSLA ND repeated (p. 105) unter E. fimb riata: " It
occurs in the central Red Sea" , and in a foot note : " This is the first record fro m the Red Sea. 1 especially
noticed it at Dongonab, being attracted by the difference between its polyps and those of Lobophy/lia.
The living colonies resemble each other, but t he polyps of the former show their tentacles by day (or at
least in the early morning) when those of the latter are retracted". But CROSSLAND gave no description,
and nobody else has reported on this genus. Therefore we think our specimen is the first described and
figured EuphyJiia from the Red Sea.
Genus Plerogyra MILNE EDWARDS and HAIM E, 1848
Type s p ec i es: Euphyllia sinuosa DA NA, 1846 (= Plerogyra laxa MILNE EDWARDS & HAIME,
1849).
G e n e ric c h a r a c t e r s: Colonial , formi ng thick branches, looking submassive. Corallites in long
sinuous valleys . Septa exsert to 10 mm, edges and sides smooth. Columella absent.
Eupbyllia
Pkrogyra
sinuosa
sinuoso
Plerogyra sinuosa (DANA), 1846
(Plate 37, Figs. 4. 5)
1846. DANA, 168