K the word Gorgonidae as ;i family designation, bul aa thus used 



the whole of what is now known as the Gorgonacea. This writer employs the 



name "G iection of his subfamily "Gorgoninae", thus practically reversing the 



• the names as we now know them. In his genus "Gorgonia" he includes 



;i of the species then known that would now go iiu<> the family Gorgonidae. The 



lal and adequate definition of the family was given l>y Sn hik in [887 in his classic 



. ii eines Systemes der Alcyonaria" which is probably the mosl helpful single con- 



tribution to our knowledge of the general systematic treatment of the Alcyonaria. His definition 



will l>e adopted f<>r our present purpose, and may be translated as follows: 



"Colony upright, branched, usually flabellate, with horny (rarely calcareous) axis. Polyps 

 bilaterally «>r biradially placed on stem and branches, corresponding to a biradiate arrangement 

 of the canal system. The upper part of the polyp is retractile either into an exserted calyx 

 or within the coenenchyma which presents a smooth surface. The spicules are small, preponder- 

 atingly spindles which are not arranged in two layers". 



The region explored by the Siboga Expedition is one in which the family Gorgonid.e 

 is ver) poorly represented, and the collection contains so few species (five in all) that it does 

 not offer a basis for a systematic discussion. The writer will therefore content himself with 

 adopting, in the main, the excellent generic definitions of Studer, and will discuss only the 

 four genera represented in the collection. 



The paucity of representatie >n of this family in this and other extensive collections in 

 the Mast Indies is remarkable when contrasted with the great number of Gorgonidae in the 

 West Indies and on the Pacific Coast of tropical America, and indicates very plainly that the 

 centre of distribution of the Gorgonidae is in the warmer waters of the Western Hemisphere. 



Synoptic view of the genera and species of GorGONID^ 



collected by the Siboga Expedition. 



species are indicated by an asterisk (*). 



Lophogorgia. 



Stenogorgia. 



Loph ■ ' pinnaia. Stenogorgia miniata, S. *studeri. 



Leptogorgia. 

 Lep: 



Platycaulus. 

 PL itycau lu s *s ièi ga . 



The only previously known species in this list. Stenogorgia miniata (Valenciennes) has 

 hithi n known only from the Atlantic Ocean, where it has been taken in the West 



