REPORT ON THE ANTIPATHARIA. 161 



established. In form and distribution they appear more closely related to Oirripathes 

 than to any other genus of which the polyps are known. Haeckel, in explanation 

 of his figure, says : — " Ein verzweigter Korallenstock, dessen sechszahlige kleine 

 Personen (mit sechs cinfachen Tentakeln) zerstreut in der diinnen Rinde des Stoekes 

 sitzen; seine Axe wird durch ein schwarzes, glasahnliches Skelet gebildet." In the 

 figure referred to, the basal expansion of the sclerenchyma is relatively large ; the 

 stem is only simple for a short distance, and then becomes subdivided at near the same 

 point into four branches. Two are short and dichotomous, the other two longer, 

 flexuose, not spreading, and branched dichotomously. The secondary branches in these 

 cases bear two or three short branchlets at irregular intervals. The whole coralluni only 

 shows a slight taper from base to apex. The polyps are from \ to 3 diameters apart, 

 arranged in two or three irregular rows. Lamarck's reference to the cortex is of no value 

 here, having been written at a time when Antipathes was supposed to be a genus of 

 Gorgonidre. Lamarck distinctly refers to the presence of spines, and I am at a loss 

 to know why Milne-Edwards included this species in his genus Hyalopathes, one of the 

 characters of which is a smooth axis. I have not seen the species, but there seems every 

 probability that the sclerenchyma, in spite of its being glossy, has the essential 

 Antipatharian characters. 



Habitat. — East Indies? (Lamarck); Tut, Red Sea (Haeckel). 



[Antipathes] picea, Pourt. 



Antipathes picea, Pourtales, Bull. Mus. Conip. Zool., 1880, p. 115, pi. iii. figs. 9 aud 29. 



Corallum branching, flabellate ; branches with four rows of pinnules, two of which 

 remain generally small and simple ; the other two develop more and give a pinnate 

 appearance to the branches. The larger branchlets are again beset with small pinnules 

 on one side. Spines subtriangular, about as high as broad near the apex of a pinnule. 



Polyps small, with large spherical buccal knobs and flattened tentacles, with slightly 

 incised border ; when strongly contracted they appear globular. They are thickly beset 

 with bundles of nematocysts. The polyps are rare on the thicker branches, and have 

 distant and rudimentary tentacles ; on the main stem very few buccal knobs are found, 

 and these are destitute of tentacles. Height of the corallum 20 to 25 cm. 



The polyps of this species, judging from the figure given by Pourtales, appear to 

 resemble those of Cladopathes plumosa, but it is not known if the zooids are dimorphic. 

 The spines near the tip of a pinnule recall the form and arrangement of those of Anti- 

 pathella suhpinnata (E. & S.) in similar situations. The distinct crenations of the tentacles, 

 should they not be due to batteries of nematocysts, may prove to be an approach to the 

 pinnate condition in Dendrobrachia. 



Habitat. — Off Grenada, in 291 fathoms ; off Barbadoes, in 7 to 45 fathoms (Pourtales). 



(zool. chall. exp. — part lxxx. — 1889.) Llll 21 



