Report on the zoological collections made in the Indo-Pacific Ocean ...

338 COILKCTIONS FROM MELANESIA.? Rliipidogorgia cancellata, M.-Ed^o. Sf Ilaime, Hist. Cor. i. p. 179.? Paramuricea cancellata, Sti(der, MB. Ah. Berlin, 1878, p. 653.EcMnogorgia, sp., Verrill, Americcm Journ. Set. (2) xlvi. p. 143.The affinities of this long-kuown species have been so frequentlymisunderstood that I fully describe its spicules to justify ihe course Ihave taken in placing it in the genus Echinocjor(]ia, The spicules ofthe general cortex, which is thick, are :—(i.) fusiform, pointed at eachend and generallj^ curved, with scattered prominent, usually simi)le,tubercles, often of large size ; length about "21 to -42 millim. by -OSSto "OST miUim. broad (including tubercles), (ii.) Larger fusiform,thickly covered with blunt, simple or compound tubercles on oneside ; on the other bearing a few large, prominent, moderately sharpdog-tooth-like tubercles, '035 to '07 millim. long. The spicule itselfhas blunt ends and is usually but slightly curved ; it measures about•56 by '177 to -25 millim. (iii.) Irregular tri- to sesradiate, withlow, blunt, generally rough tubercles ; maximum diameter of spicule•177 to -25 millim., of single arms -035 to -OoS. (iv.) A form of" Blattkcule " with very variously developed shaft, generally consistingof several arms, covered with low, blunt, rough tubercles. Thefoliar portion consists of two to four angular dog-tooth-like projections,arranged in one plane, more or less flattened in this plane (asare the arms of the shaft), and their bases covered with similar butless prominent tubercles ; length of teeth 'OoS to •14 millim., basaldiameter about ^07 millim. ; size of spicule variable, from •25 to•35 millim. in length and breadth. The spicules of the verructe aresimple, fusiform, slightly tubcrculatc.The tooth-like spines of spicules (ii.) and (iv.) are directed outwardsin the natural position of the parts and produce the minuteroughening of the surface of the coenenchyma, which may be felt,and is to be seen under a lens ; the small fusiform (i.) and the form(iii.) lie beneath, next to the horny axis.A large series of dry specimens occurs in this collection ; they areusually more extended laterally than the specimen figured by Esper.Most of them have a smaller general habit, the branches havinga mean diameter of •! to 1^5 millim. in all specimens but one(from Port Curtis), which has the 2 millim. characteristic of Esper'sspecimens and of examples from Torres Straits &c. already in theMuseum. The fundamental colour appears to be always a lightyellowish brown ; but mjiny of the specimens have acquired a duskycoloration, apparently subsequent to death. In some young specimensfrom the Straits of Malacca (BoiverhanJc coll.) and Queenslandanastomosis is wholly wanting.Hab. Port Molle,' (iueensland, 12-20 fms. ; Port Curtis, ditto,5-11 fms.Obs. Edilnogorgia of KoUiker is nearly allied to Plexaura*, andis perhaps connected with it by E. cerea and furfuracea and the* I regret having placed Xlunzinger's species P. forfa (from the Eed Sea) inthe widely distinct genus Villogorgia, in a communication to the 'Annals andMagazine of Natural History ' (ser. 5, vol. ix. p. 191) ; its thick cortex separatesit from that genus, at any rate, though whether it can be maintained in