7. Anthozoa (incl. Hydrocorallia). A. Zoautharia. 21 



MacMunn reports that the pigments of the corals examined are either 

 chlorophylloid, or of a closely connected kind of pigment, which latter absorbs 

 the violet end of the spectrum and seems changeable by the agency of heat, 

 etc., into the dark pigment which gives the coral its dark colour in the fresh 

 condition : e. g. brick red as in Ccenopsammia ivilleyi, cloth-black as in nigre- 

 scens or velvet black as in Dendrophyllia ramea. Lipochromes are absent even 

 in those corals which possess a chlorophylloid pigment. 



Verrill( 3 ) regards the coral fauna of the Bermudas as a detached co- 

 lony of the more hardy species which have migrated from the West Indies 

 by the agency of the northwards current by which the coral larva; have been 

 carried. The species established in the Bermudas have been determined by 

 the duration of their free larval stages and their ability to endure the cooler 

 waters. Probably most of these species have come directly from the Bahamas. 

 The larval period of many corals is probably too brief to permit them to make 

 this journey, others may reach the Bermudas but are unable to endure the 

 low temperature of the water during the winter. Thus many of the W. Indian 

 genera and species are not found in the Bermudas, e. g. Colpophyllia, Meaii- 

 drina , Dendrogyra , Dichocmnia , Eusmilia , Stephanoccenia , Solenastrcea. The 

 absence of all varieties of Acropora (Madr&pora) inuricata is noteworthy as 

 these are among the most abundant and important of the W. Indian reef corals. 

 Certain very common species of W. Indian corals (Mcandra clivosa and areo- 

 lata , Agaricia agaricites. Forties furcata) are absent, but others of the same 

 genera (H. labyriuthiformis and cerebrum, A. fragilis, P. polymorpha (clavaria) 

 and astroides) are common. Some genera and species are more abundant here 

 than in other parts of the West Indies, e. g. Isophyllia, Oculina, Madrads, 

 Meandra (Diploria) labyrinthiformis , the last-named being the prevalent reef 

 coral. A revised list of Bermudian corals is given containing descriptions of 

 Mussa 1 n. sp. and Oculina 1 n. var. - The coral fauna of the West Indian 

 area is very uniform and distinct from that of the Panama and Indo-Pacific 

 regions. Not a single species is common to the W. Indies and either of those 

 regions, but there is a direct relationship with the coral fauna of Brazil [see 

 below] and apparently a few W. Indian species are closely related to (perhaps 

 identical with) those of the eastern Atlantic. There is no family of corals re- 

 stricted to the W. Indies but the following genera are so restricted - - Colpo- 

 pIi//lUa, Dendrogyra, Meandrina (= Pectinia auctt.), Eusmilia, Stephcmocomia 

 and perhaps Isophyllia. Agaricia, Siderastrcea, Cladocora, Madrads, Oculina, 

 Dichocoenia and Orbicella are rare in the Indo-Pacific. The W. Indian reef 

 fauna lacks a number of genera and even some large families which are abun- 

 dant in the Indo-Pacific - - e. g. Turbinaridse, Eupsammidae, Fungidaj and Po- 

 cilloporidse, etc. The total absence from W. Indian reefs of the slender-branched, 

 corymbose and csespitose species of Acropora' (Madrcpora) is one of the most 

 conspicuous differences between them and Indo-Pacific reefs. Pocillopora, though 

 it abounds on Indo-Pacific reefs and even in the Panama fauna, is absent from 

 the W. Indian. Forties, Meandra, Favia, Solenastra>a , Mussa, Millepora and 

 stout-branched species of Acropora are abundant in both of these great areas. 

 The known Brazilian reef corals are few in number, but they constitute 

 a very special coral fauna and several of them present generalised or archaic 

 characters. This fauna seems to be a surviving remnant of an ancient coral 

 fauna, possibly dating back to the early Tertiary period. From some of the 

 still-existing species modern West Indian reef corals may have been derived. 

 Among these are Mmsa linr.iliensis and tenuiscpta both of which present the 

 characters of M. (Symphyttia), Isopliyllia and Favia and might be about equally 



