:MH 



CEYLON FEARL OYSTER REPORT. 



and New Zealand in the Pacific, from the Red Sea, and from the Maldive Islands and 

 Gulf of Mauaar in the Indian Ocean. The second species, L. hedleyi, has only been 

 previously recorded from the Pacific (Funafuti). Its record from the Gulf of Manaar 

 indicates a wide distribution of this hitherto little-known species. 



III. Eight species of Sclerophytum : of these three, S. marcnzellem, S. polydactylum, 

 and S. densum, are comparatively well-known species. S. marenzelleri, however, has 

 only been before recorded from the Pacific (New Britain and New Hebrides) ; 

 S. polydactylum from the Pacific (British New Guinea, China Seas), the Red Sea, 

 Indian Ocean (Maldives), and now the Gulf of Manaar. S. densum is the most 

 common species of the genus, and has a wide geographical range it is now known 

 from the Pacific (Funafuti, China Seas, British New Guinea), the Indian Ocean 

 (Maldive Islands), and now the Gulf of Manaar. 



Four species : S. gardineri, S. palmatum, S. querciforme, and S. durum, have been 

 recorded only from the Maldives. One species is new. 



IV. Two species of Alcyonium, one of which is new, and the other, A. pachyclados, 

 is apparently generally distributed in the warm southern and tropical waters of the 

 Pacific and Indian Oceans. 



Several specimens of species common to Ceylon and the Maldive Islands vary 

 considerably in size, external form, colour, consistency, size of spicules, &c, so that it 

 was sometimes impossible to determine the identity of a species from a study of 

 superficial characters. When examining a specimen of this family in the preserved 

 condition, it is necessary to note that (1) the size of a specimen may vary according 

 to age or environment ; (2) external form is, to a certain extent, dependent on the 

 state of expansion or otherwise of the colony at the time of fixing, and also upon the 

 nature of the fixing re-agent ; (3) the colouring matter in Alcyonaria, apart from that 

 of the spicules, is usually acted upon, and in many cases dissolved, by alcohol ; (4) the 

 consistency of a colony, and to a certain extent the size of the spicules, may be 

 affected by the use of an acid preservative. When these more or less artificial causes 

 of difference are eliminated, the identification of most species, when based upon 

 general anatomical principles, can usually be determined with considerable ease and 

 accuracy. 



List of Species occurring in Professor Herdman's Collection. 



Sarcophylvm bicohr, n. sp. 



,, oligolrema, n. sp. 



contorlum, n. sp. 



plicatu/m, Schenk. 



elirenbergi, Marenzeller. 

 Lobophytwm hedleyi, Whitelegge. 



, pauciflorum, Eiirenberg. 

 Sclerophytum Jierdmani, n. sp. 



marenzelleri, Wright and St. 



,sw< rophytum polydactylum, Dana. 



gardineri, Pratt. 



palmatum, Pratt. 



densum, Whitelegge. 



querciforme, Pratt. 



durum, Pratt. 

 Alcyonium ceylonicum, n. sp. 



pachyclados, Klunzinger. 



