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



Colour in spirit a light red. 



Habitat. — Station 232, Hi/alonema-ground, off Japan; depth, 34. i fathoms; bottom, 

 tfreen mud. 



o 



Genus Juncella, Valenciennes, ex parte. 



Juncdla, Valenciennes, Comptes rendus, torn. xli. p 14. 

 JunceUa, Kolliker, Icones Histiol., Abth. ii. p. 140. 



Juncella gemmacea (Valenciennes) (PI. XXXIV. fig. 13). 



Gurgonia gemmacea, Val., on label in Museum, Paris. 



Verrucella gemmacea (Val), Milne-Edwards, Hist. Nat. des Coralliaires, p. 185, pi. B.2, fig. 7. 



JunceUa gemmacea (Val.), Kolliker, Icones Histiol., Abth. ii. p. 140. 



Ellisella gemmacea (Val.), Gray, Cat. Lithopbytes Brit. Mus., p. 26. 



One specimen, torn from its attachment and measuring 975 mm. in length, with a 

 diameter at its basal portion of 7'5 mm. which tapers to one of 25 mm. at its terminal 

 portion, occurs in the collection. The groove on either side of the axis is well marked. 



The following are average measurements of the spicules : — the unsymmetrical double 

 clubs 0-12-0-04; 0-1-0-03 ; 0-1-0-02 ; 0-08-0-02 mm.; the double stars 0-12-0-08; 

 0'l-0"04 mm.; these two forms of spicules seem to merge into one another, when the 

 smaller head of the unsymmetrical club enlarges to the same size as the opposite head, 

 and the spiny outgrowths become fewer and more prominent, then the result is a double 

 star; needle-shaped spicules measure 0'06-0"02 to 0"l-0"02 mm. 



The colour in spirits is an orange-red. 



Habitat. — Station 186, Torres Strait; depth, 8 fathoms; bottom, coral mud. 



Red Sea, Valenciennes ; Queensland, Ridley ; Mermaid's Straits, North-west Australia, 

 Studer. 



Juncella juncea (Pallas), var. alba (PL XXXIV. fig. 12). 



Gorgonia juncea, Pallas, No. 172, Esper, Fortsetz., p. 177, tab. lii. 

 Juncella juncea, Val., Comptes rendus, torn. sU. p. 14. 



A large number of fragments collected, which seem to belong to at least seven 

 colonies, must be referred to Pallas' well-known species. They differ in colour from the 

 type, it being of an orange-red colour, while those found by the Challenger are of a 

 nearly pure white. 



In two instances the whole colony has been torn from its attachment, and an 

 examination of the larger of these shows that it was rooted in a mass of sponges and 

 Polyzoa ; in the other there was in addition a well-marked side attachment, which is 

 calcareous, and partly creeping over a dead Zoantharian Coral. The height of the larger 

 of these specimens, not counting the root-like portion, is 675 mm., with a broad basal 

 diameter of 7 "5 mm. and an apical one of 3 mm. 



