96 COELENTEEATA— ANTHOZOA phylum ii 



Family 3. Pocilloporidae Verrill. 



Composite, branching, lohate, or massive colonies, with small cylindrical corallites, 

 united by compact coenenchyma. Septa few {Q-24:), sometimes rudimentary. Visceral 

 chamber partitioned off by horizontal tabulae. 



Of the two Recent genera belonging to this family, Pocillopora and Seriato- 

 pora Lam., the former occurs also in the Miocene of the West Indies. 



Family 4. Stylophoridae Milne Edwards and Haime. 



Composite coralla, ivith corallites united by vesicular or compact coenenchyma. 



Septa well developed ; a prominent, styli- 

 form central columella; inier septal loculi 

 empty throughout. Jurassic to Recent. 

 Stylophora Schweigg. (Fig. 137). 

 Stock branching, or depressed, 

 massive and tuberous. Calices 

 small, embedded in abundant, 

 spinous, coenenchyma. Septa well 



Styloplwra suhretlculata Reuss. Miocene ; Grund, near developed, moderately numerOUS ; 

 Vienna a, Corallura, naturalsize; b, surface greatly columella stvliform. JuraSsic, 



enlarged. . -^ ' 



Tertiary, and Recent. 

 Araeacis E. and H. Eocene. Stylohelia From. Jurassic ; Europe. 



Family 5. Astraeidae i Milne Edwards and Haime. 



Corallum composite, or more rarely simple. Theca formed by fusion of septal 

 edges. Septa numerous, usually well developed, upper edges toothed, serrated, or 

 lobular; visceral chamber partitioned off by more or less abundantly developed 

 dissepiments, more rarely by tabulae. Multip>lication by budding or fission. Corallites 

 of massive colonies visually reaching considerable altitude, and united loith one another 

 either directly by the walls or by means of septa, exothecally jyroduced (costal septa). 



Very abundant from the Trias onwards, and by far the most protean family 

 of all the Hexacoralla. According to the serrated or entire character of the 

 free septal edges, Milne Edwards and Haime divided their Astraeidae into two 

 subfamilies — the Astraeinae and the Eusmiliinae, the latter of which has been 

 elevated by Verrill to family rank. 



a. Simple coralla. 



Montlivaltia Lamx. (Fig. 138). Cylindrical, conical, turbinate, or dis- 

 coidal, and either acutely pointed, or broadly expanded at the base. Septa 

 numerous, upper edges serrated. Columella absent ; epitheca thick, corrugated, 



^ The family waxae' Astraeidae is not available for use among corals, as the generic name Astraea 

 was applied by Bolten in 1798 to mollusks now referred to Turbo and Xeno2)hora, three years 

 previous to its application, in 1801, by Lamarck to corals. It is known that the Astraeidae of 

 Milne Edwards and Haime does not represent a natural association of corals, and, therefore, must 

 be dismembered and divided into a number of families. Several subdivisions have already been 

 proposed, but the detailed investigation of all the constituent genera has not progressed far enough 

 to determine their natural affinities in all cases. In view of this condition it seems better to 

 continue temporarily the use of the term Astraeidae until all the corals included under it have been 

 thoroughly studied and their systematic affinities ascertained than to propose a substitute name 

 for one known to be invalid. 



