A. E. Verrill — Bermudian and West Indian Reef Corals. 



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Septa often strongly exsert, dentate or lacerate, the distal ones 

 usually continuous with the cost*. Common base often thin, but 

 firm, imperforate, irregularly costate, often echinulate. 



These corals often resemble fungian corals, like Agaricia and 

 Podabacia, but they have distinct and often large exothecal dissepi- 

 ments and lack synapticula?. 



To this family I now unite the genus Mycedium Oken, as 

 emended, = Phyllastrcea Dana. 



Mycedium (Oken) Edw. and Hairne. Type M. elephantotus (Pallas; Esper.) 



Mycedium (pars) Oken, Lehr. Naturg., i, 69, 1815. 

 Agaricia (pars) Ehr., Corall., p. 105, 1834 (non Lain.) 

 Phyllastrcea Dana, Zooph. Expl. Exped., p. 269, 1846. 

 Helioseris (pars) Edw. and Haime, Coinpt.-rend., xxix. p. 72, 1849. 

 Mycedium (pars) Edw. and Haime, Ann. Sci. Nat., xv, p. 130, 1851 ; Hist. 

 Nat. Corall., iii, p. 72, 1860 (non Myeeclia Dana, 1846). 



The coral in this genus usually forms thin, foliaceous, often con- 

 torted fronds, simple or clustered. They may be unifacial or bifa- 

 cial. The calicles are rather large, one-sided, oblique or appressed, 

 stellate, usually scattered, not in long series. Collines rudimentary 

 or lacking. Septa rather few, thickened, serrate or laciniate, exsert, 

 prominent externally, continuous from calicle to calicle, as septo- 

 costre. Costa? coarse, rough, serrate. Under side of coral rather 

 coarsely costate. 



Much unnecessary confusion has arisen as to the characters of this 

 genus. 



This has been clue chiefly to the fact that most writers have failed 

 to recognize the true characters of the type species, Madrepora ele- 

 phantotus* of Pallas, and have had very different species under this 

 name, including two or more West Indian species*of Agaricia, as will 

 be shown under that genus, which have nothing to do with the true 

 elephantotus. Milne-Edw. and Haime had, however, a more correct 

 idea of the nature of the original genus, and their interpretation of 

 it must hold good, even though they included some species that may 

 better be placed elsewhere. But their species described as elephan- 

 totus is not the species of Pallas. 



* It has been suggested by Quelch that this spelling was a typographical error 

 for elephantopus, but the allusion is plainly to the resemblance of a broad 

 foliaceous coral to an elephant's ear, not to the foot. Some of the early poly- 

 nomial writers gave these foliaceous corals the vernacular name "Elephants 

 Ears." See Voy. Chall., xvi, p. 116, foot note. 



