93 



presented by Dr. Gwyii Jeffreys, and labelled Cavernularia 

 obesa, var., 40 fathoms Korean Strait. It is orange colour. 

 I hope to be able to find time soon to investigate the anatomy 

 of these species more fully. 



HYDROCORALLINAE. 



Allopora xobilis. Saville Kent. 



A fragment of a dried skeleton, 5 inches in height and 2 

 inches in diameter at the base, was sent to me, together with 

 a smaller fragment preserved in formalin. It is probably 

 identical with Allopora nobilis Saville Kent (15). The speci- 

 men Kent described is in the British Museum, but the locality 

 from which it was obtained is not recorded. 



The specimen under examination was obtained in the trawl 

 in False Bay at a depth of 30 fathoms. The interesting 

 statement is made in the notes sent to me that " there are 

 evidently large beds, as when the trawl gets on them it is 

 ruined owing to the number of holes torn in it." 



Moseley (Phil. Trans., 1878, p. 480) considered that this 

 species was probably identical with Verrill's Allopora venusta 

 from Neah Bay, Washington Territory (17). In both the 

 colour is light red and the branches yellowish at the tips, but 

 the other characters upon which the species are founded are 

 so very variable that it is difficult to express a definite opinion 

 on the point without a careful examination of both type speci- 

 mens. The discovery, however, that Allopora nobilis occurs 

 at the Cape of Good Hope suggests that the species are 

 distinct. If they are identical the geographical distribution 

 of the species is remarkable. 



An examination of sections through the soft parts shows 

 that the specimen is a female. There is not sufficient 

 material, however, for me to make a satisfactory study of the 

 gonophores of this species. 



As Moseley pointed out, it is not easy to distinguish the 

 genus Allopora from the genus Stylaster. It is possible that 

 there is a difiference between them in the general characters 



