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

3G0COLLECTIONS FKOM MELANESIA.may be considered characteristic of its habit ; his figure, thoughtaken apparently from a rather stunted specimen, is fair, but thejoints are too long. Lamarck, too, notices the short stem and itssudden division into slender branches, which are its best externaldistinguisliing characters. In its minute structure it is characterizedby its tine Blattkeule with dentate edges and graceful longitudinalverruca-spicuje. Dry specimens are apt to turn white ; perhaps thewhite variety mentioned by Lamarck (l. c.) is an instance of thisphenomenon. A variety occurs from Torres Straits with grey cortex,black verrucse, white internodes, red joints.The species figured by De Blainville {I. c.) differs from ordinaryspecimens of M. texUformis in its yellow soft joints. It is possiblya variety of M. coccinea.34. Mopsella clavigera.(Plate XXXVII. fig. B ; Plate XXXVIII. figs. «-«".)? Mopsella elongata, Studer, MB. Ak. Berlin, 1878, p. 666.Corallum branching strictly in one plane :branches almost invariablyanastomosing in adult at the soft joints, proportionately less,according to age, in the younger specimens ; the meshes thus formedare either longitudinally elongated or irregularly polygonal ; thefrond may be either about as broad as it is high, or the height maybe double the breadth. Stem short, moderately developed or weak.Internodes undulating or seldom straight, compressed, the anteroposteriordiameter having the proportion with regard to the sidediameter of about 3:2; penetrated towards base by longitudinalcanals. Soft joints distinct, but not large, elongated near base ofmain branches, only just perceptible in younger parts. Verrucsenumerovis, scattered over sides and back (or front) of corallum, butleaving a bare space down the middle of its posterior aspect ; tubercularin shape, slightly prominent. Cortex thin, white and almostcolourless. Axis of internodes rough, white or pale pink (generallyonly so in young specimens). Soft joints bright red. pink, or almostcolourless. Verrucue dirty brownish to white in colour.Spicules of general (i.) cortex:— Coarsely tuberculated, ratherbluntly pointed, fusiform, of various sizes, the larger ones somewhatswollen, tapering and sometimes terminated by a small " Blatt "at the other extremity ; average maximum dimensions 17 to "21by -07 millim. (ii.) Blattkeule, compound, with about two lancetshapedlaminae, as a rule, and these mainly flattened in one plane,with a short conical to almost obsoleteshaft, covered with smallishtubercles often deeply dentate ; average maximum dimensions -14by '07 millim. Spicules of verruca long, slender, curved and pointed,fusiform, with tubercles fewer and less prominent than those of thecortical spicules and less numerous near the ends : average maximumdimensions -20 by -026 to -285 by '044 millim.lfa}>. Port Curtis, Queenslanrl, 5-1 1 fms., bottom sand and shells ;Port MoUe, 14 fms., bottom rock ; Thursday Island, Torres Straits,