582 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Polyphyllia. He deals with 26 species from the Indian Ocean. The 

 characters of the new genus are as follows : — The corallum is thick and 

 heavy, free, disk-like when young, getting arched later. Its wall is 

 porous, freely so near the edge, filling up in the centre. It commences 

 with a central calicle, but commonly breaks up as it enlarges, each frag- 

 ment regeneratiDg its corallum. Such growths are irregularly covered 

 with calicles, each with 6 to 12 distinct septa. The costae are low, 

 distinct at least at the edge, subequal in size, set with low rounded spines 

 all clearly and crowdedly granulated. The septa are alternately large 

 and small, the latter being thinner aud lower ; they are much granulated 

 all over, and the largest end in blunt denticulations. 



Indian Ocean Antipatharians.* — C. Forster Cooper reports on a 

 collection, and discusses the value of the various characters used in 

 distinguishing species. The mode of growth is modifiable, the spines- 

 are variable, the shapes of the polyps do not help much. The author 

 describes the following new forms : — Stichojmthes longispina, S. alcocki, 

 S. regular is, S. seychelhnsis, S. bournei, Aphanipathes (?) somervillei, 

 Aphanipathes (?) hancocki, Antipathes (?) heterorhodzos, Antipathes 

 sealarki, A. plana, A. irregularis. He changes Antipathes gracilis 

 Thomson aud Simpson (which is not the same as A. gracilis Gray) into 

 A. herdmani n. n. 



Japanese Pennatulids.f — H. Balss reports on an interesting collec- 

 tion of Pennatulids from Japan, which includes a number of forms 

 previously known only by a single 'Challenger' specimen. The 

 occurrence of North Atlantic and of Indo-Pacific forms is noteworthy. 

 Balss describes Lituaria habereri sp. n., Stachyptilum dofleini, Pteroeides 

 dofleini sp. n. He makes a new genus, ProchuneUa, for " Protocaulon 

 iiidicum " Thomson and Henderson, and for ProchuneUa heiiwigi sp. n. 

 Jungersen has shown that Kolliker's Protocaidon was simply a young 

 Virgularia. 



Japanese G-orgonids.J — W. Kiikenthal communicates a second large 

 memoir, very finely illustrated, on Japanese Gorgonids of the families 

 Plexauridrc, Chrysogorgiidee, Melitodidae, and Acanthogorgiidae. He 

 describes eight new species of Euplexaura, two of Eunicella, five of 

 Chrysogorgia, three of Melitodes, five of Acabaria, and three of Acantho- 

 gorgia. He also defines a new genus Paraplexaura made for certain 

 species of Plexauroides and partly for new species, and another new 

 genus Anthoplexaura for a remarkable form A. dimorpha. The colony 

 is somewhat bushy ; the polyps are very large, free from spicules, 

 retractile in high calyces ; the cortex is very thick ; the axis is horny 

 with some lime, very thin and flexible in the twigs ; the spicules are 

 thick warty spindles. 



Alcyonarians from Hawaiian Islands. § — Charles C. Nutting has 

 found in this region a field hitherto ungleaned as regards Alcyonarians. 



* Trans. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) xii. (1909) pp. 301-21 (1 pi. and 17 figs.). 



t Zool. Anzeig., xxxiv. (1909) pp. 423-31 (3 figs.). 



% Abh. k. Bayer. Akad. Wiss., Suppl. Bd.. 1909, pp. 1-78 (7 pis. and 94 figs.). 



§ Proc. U.S. Nat. Museum, xxxiv. (1908) pp. 543-601. 



