160 THE VOYACxE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



from these are given ofl' from the one side of the branches, and when themselves 

 branched to a third degree, the same fact holds true. This mod(; of growth is very 

 constant and it gives a graceful, semi-pendulous outUne to the colony. The larger 

 branches are of about the same thickness as the main stem. The axis is calcareous, 

 brittle, with a thin ccenenchyma containing the characteristic spicules of Juncella. 



The polyps are numerous both on the stem and branches, prominent. The tentacles 

 fold in over the oral region of the polyp, and during the various stages of contraction the 

 apex of the polyp body shows an eight-rayed star, formed of the basal portions of the 

 infolding tentacles ; when the contraction proceeds still further, a simple papilla is to be 

 seen. The fully contracted verruca measures about 1 mm. in height and 0'5 mm. in width. 

 On one surface of the stem and branches the polyps are absent, and on this naked portion 

 a feebly marked groove may be seen winding up the stem. The polyps are much more 

 numerous and crowded on the smaller branches, where they are placed in three or four rows. 



The spicules are very uniform in size, many of the clubs are of an amber colour, the 

 unsymmetrical clubs measure from 0'06-0"04 to 0'06-0'2 mm.; the double stars from 

 0'08-0"02 to 0'08-0'04 mm. ; the needle-shaped spicules in the polyps, especially at the 

 base of the tentacles, measure from 0'l-0"04 to 006-0"04 mm. 



The colour of the ccenenchyma and the polyps varies from a reddish-yellow to a dark 

 red. The bases of the polyps and the tentacles are of a much lighter hue. 



Habitat. — Station 232, Hyalonema-ground, off Japan ; depth, 345 fathoms; bottom, 

 green mud. 



Genus Ellisella, Gray (emend.). 



Ellisella, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 257, 1857. 

 „ Gray, Cat. Lithopliytes Brit. Mus., p. 25, 1870. 

 „ Gray, emend., Studer, Monatsber. d. k. preuss. Akad. d. "Wiss. Berlin, p. 659, 1878. 



Dr. Gray in 1857 {loc. cit.) established this genus for Gorgonia juncea, Pallas, 

 Gorgonia elongata, Pallas, and Gorgonia pectinata, Pallas. Afterwards (1870) in his 

 Catalogue he limited the genus to Gorgonia elongata, Pallas, and allied forms, referring 

 the first and the last of the above-quoted species to the genera already established for 

 them by Milne-Edwards. Studer (1878) emended Gray's generic diagnosis and added 

 two new species, Ellisella calamus and Ellisella maculata, both from Mermaid's Straits 

 in North-west Australia. 



Ellisella maculata, Studer (PI. XXXIV. fig. 9). 



Ellisella maculata, Studer, Monatsber. d. k. preuss. Akad. A Wiss. Berlin, p. 659, taf. iv. 

 fig. 27, a, b, c, 1878. 



One fragment of this species from Torres Strait in the collection is unbranched ; it is 

 about 150 mm. in length, from what appears to be its basal portion, with a diameter of 



