[CEYLON TEARL OYSTER FISHERIES 1905 SUPPLEMENTARY REPORTS, No. XX. 



REPORT 



ON THE 



ALOYONARIA 



COLLECTED BY 



Professor HERDMAN, at CEYLON, in 1902. 



BV 



Pkofessok J. ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A.. University of Aberdeen. 



AND 



W. O. HENDERSON, M.A., B.So., Uaknec;ie Scholak* Univeksity of Auekdeen. 



[With SIX PLATES.] 



The l'ich collection of Ceylonese Alcyonarianst here reported on was made in 1902 

 from the Pearl Oyster Banks in the Gulf of Manaar, by dredging within the 

 100-fathom line off Trincomalee and off Galle, and in adjacent littoral areas. The 

 localities are more precisely referred to in Professor Herdman's " Narrative " in Part I. 

 of the general Report (1903). 



As only a few Alcyonarians from Ceylon have been previously recorded, e.g., by 

 Thurston \ (1890) and Ridley (1883), Professor Herdman found an almost fresh 

 field, which his faunistic genius recognised as extraordinarily rich. We have not been 

 able to exhaust the material which his skilful collecting has garnered. His collection 



* It is more than a formal duty to make grateful acknowledgment of the assistance of the Carnegie 

 Trust : Mr. HENDERSON did part of his share in this Report as a Carnegie Seholar, and I received from 

 the Trust 30 towards the expenses of preparations and drawings. J. A. T. 



t The "fleshy" Aleyoniida 1 , e.g., Alcyoniwm, Lobophytum, Sarcophytum, Sclerophytum, are reported on 

 separately hy Miss Edith M. Pratt, D.Sc. (see this volume, p. 217). 



I Thurston's list is as follows: Echinogorgia pseudosasappo, E. sasappo, E. term, E./wfaraced, Plexaura 

 flabellum, Juncella jv/iuxa, Gorgonia (Leptogorgia) miniacea, Gorgonella umbella, Svherogorgia subavsa, Pteroeides 

 javanicum, PL esperi, Virguhtria jwncea and Liiuariasp. 



Ridley's list is as follows: Alcyonium polydaclylvm, ./. submurdle, Sarcopkytwm pauciflorum 

 Spongodes sp., Rhizoxenia sp., MenaceUa reticularis, Echinogorgia pseudosasappo, Plemv/ra fiabellwm, Jvmcell 

 j a nn a, Svherogorgia verrmdata, S. svherosa, and (?) Coralliwm while. 



