00 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



the genus Lepidopora and Errina aspera. Pourtales originally placed his Lepidoporas 



under the genus Errina. 



I have examined the structure of the soft parts of Lepidopora cochleata (Pourtales) 

 in specimens preserved in spirit kindly placed at my disposal by him for the purpose. 

 The specimens were not in very good preservation, but I was able to see that the 

 form very closely resembles Errina labiata in the structure both of its ccenosarc and 

 zooids. The dactylozooids are extremely numerous. The gastrozooids have four 

 tentacles. The nematophores are like those of Errina. The specimen was a female. 



The genus Stenohelia (Kent) was originally formed to include Allopora madeirensis, 

 which seems to come very near to Astylus and Cryplolielia in that it has the cyclo- 

 systems all directed towards one face of the flabellum ; but the presence of a style in the 

 gastropores is decisive in excluding it from this association, and probably points to 

 the existence in it of a gastrozooid bearing tentacles. 



Possibly the name of VerriU's genus Cyclopora, founded on the species Cyclopora 

 bella [Stylaster bella (Dana)] should be substituted for that of Conopora, for Cyclopora 

 bella appears to be without a style in the gastropore, and Conopora tenuis (Moseley) 

 might perhaps be referred naturally to the same genus, but the descriptions in the old 

 terminology are insufficient to determine the point. 



The separation of the genera AUopora and Stylaster is difficult. The different 

 forms of the gastrozooids, and the presence in that of one genus of six, and in that 

 of the other of twelve tentacles, may prove characteristic of the genera. Count 

 Pourtales sent me specimens of Stylaster roseus and Allopora miniata in spirit, 

 both species of these genera different from those of which I had determined the 

 anatomy. The soft parts were, unfortunately, badly preserved in the specimens, but 

 the gastrozooids, although their tentacles could not be counted, appeared to correspond 

 in form with those before observed in the other species of the same two genera. 

 A tendency to alternate budding can be made out in all Alloporas. It seems probable 

 that the strong tendency to the development of the cyclo-systems on the sides of 

 the branches only in the flabellum will prove a good characteristic for the separation 

 of the Stylasters from the Alloporas, which would then include all those species in 

 which the faces of the stem and branches were covered with cyclo-systems. The 

 genus Endohelia of Milne-Edwards and Haime, as already remarked by Pourtales l and 

 myself, 2 is not in any w T ay separable from Cryptohelia. I have examined the type 

 specimen which was sent to me by Dr H. W. Hubrecht from the Leyden Museum for 

 the purpose, and, in the absence of knowledge of the soft structure, should refer it to 

 Cryptohelia pudica. Short characters of the several genera of the Stylasteridae are given 

 in the tabular synopsis immediately following ; more extended descriptions follow. 



1 Deep-Sea Corals, I.e., p. 34. 



2 H. N. Moseley, On the True Corals dredged by H.M.S. Challenger, Proc. Roy. Soc, No. 170, 1876, p. 557. 



