io 



they are ol in completely covered with spicules, which are closely packed 



by side. A variable number nine to eleven) of long fusiform spicules 

 surround the apical portion <>f the polype, forming a calyx. Tentacles eight, 

 pinnately lobed". 



V'errili includes in this genus all of his family ■ Ceratoisida" that have the coenenchyma 



and filled with large fusiform spicules and the calyx armed with .1 crown of spines. 



rhis definition is somewhat misleading, as the small spicules often found in the calyces and 



coenenchyma are often not fusiform but lenticular or "biscuit-shaped", sometimes fiddle-shaped, 



i>r even oval. 



ractically adopts the original definition of Wright. Wrighi and Sn hik 



point out the difficulty of distinguishing between the unbranched species of Lepidisis 

 (Verrill) and the unbranched forms of Ceratoisis. This point seems t<> the present writer to be 

 well taken, and should result in the combination of the two genera, as suggested by Wright 

 and StüDJ R. 



r definition of the genus Ceratoisis is as follows: 



- The colony is simple or branched, in ilic latter case with the branches arising from 

 the calcareous internodes. rhese latter are long and hollow when young. The coenenchyma 

 contains long smooth spindles or needle-like spicules. In the polyps, which are nonretractile, 

 there are large needies. One row of these spicules is so disposed that one lies at the base 

 between each |>air of tentacles and projects beyond them, the result being a circlet of diverging 

 spines around the oral region". 



This definition is dificient in the fact that it makes no mention of the oblong, compara- 

 tively smooth. oval. or lenticular spicules found both in Ceratoisis grayi (the type species) and 

 in the species of Vi rrii i 's genus Lepidisis. This point, however, is covered in their more 

 elaborate definition of the genus on page 26 of the Challenger Report. Alcyonaria, 1S89. 



The genus Ceratoisis, as used in the present work, may be defined as follows: 



Ceratoisidinee whose calyces are armed with a crown of needledike spicules. The axis is 

 simple or sparingly branched, the calcareous internodes hollow, at least in the younger portions 

 of the colony. Coenenchyma, and often the calyces, with oblong, lenticular, fiddle-shaped, or 

 oval scales with comparatively smooth surfaces. 



The type species of this genus is Ceratoisis grayi Wright. Other species are C. Lepidisis) 

 caryophyllia (Verrill), C. ftabellum Nutting, C. gracilis Thomson and Henderson, C. grandiflora 

 Studer, C'. grandis Nutting, C. (Lepidisis inermis (Studer). C. japonica Studer, C. Lepidisis) 

 longifiora (Verrill), C. nuda Wright and Studer, C. ornata Verrill, C. palma Wright and Studer, 

 C. philippinensis Wright and Studer, C. rantosa Hickson, C. siemenensis Studer, C. (Lepidisis) 

 vitrea Verrill), and the new species described in the present work. 



1. Ceratoisis paucispinosa Wright and Studer. 



itoisis paucispinosa Wright and Studer. Challenger Reports, the Alcyonaria, 1889, p. 28. 



t. 52. <ƒ ? .4 S., 119 y,.jY.. >jï<j meters. Globigerina ooze. 



