CORALS FROM MURRAY, COCOS-KEELING, AND FANNING ISLANDS. 



99 



Columella deep seated, formed by fusion of septal ends. 



Endotheca delicate, dissepiments about 0.5 mm. apart. Peritheca composed of blister- 

 like vesicles, 0.25 to 0.5 mm. high. Upper surface of peritheca exhibits many incomplete 

 vesicles. 



Station, Murray Island. — Southeast reef, line I, 1,600 feet from shore. 



This species is positively the one designated Anthophyllum cespitosum by Dana 

 and it appears to me to be the Madrepora ccespitosa of Esper (plate 27), which Milne 

 Edwards and Haime place doubtfully in the synonymy of their Galaxea laperouseana. 

 The latter authors, however, give only three cycles of septa for G. laperouseana. 



Dana's original specimens of Galaxea in the U. S. National Museum are as 

 follows: 



G. cespitosa, No. 12, East Indies. G. hystrix, No. 49, Fiji Islands. 



G. fascicularis, No. 48, Sulu Sea. G. clavus, No. 47, Fiji Islands. 



These are all the species reported by Dana as having been collected by the 

 U.S. Exploring Expedition. G. hystrix and G. fascicularis are undoubtedly the same 

 species. There is a large suite of Galaxea of this facies in the U. S. National 

 Museum, the specimens coming mostly from the southern Philippine Islands. The 

 difference between G. fascicularis and G. cespitosa depends upon two characters, 

 the relative exsertness of the septa, and whether the corallites are inverted turbinate 

 in shape or of nearly uniform diameter from the perithecal surface to the calicular 

 margin. In both of these characters there is so much variation that there is inter- 

 gradation. But several characters hold good for the series. They are growth-form, 

 size of normal, adult corallites, andthe number and arrangement of the septa. There- 

 fore, it is my opinion that Anthophyllium cespitosum Dana and probably Madrepora 

 caspitosa Esper should be added to the synonymy of Galaxea fascicularis (Linn.). 



Distribution. — Red Sea; Indian Ocean; Great Barrier Reef; Philippine Islands; 

 Fiji Islands. The range eastward from Fiji is not known. 



Galaxea clavus (Dana). 

 Plate 33, figure 1, Dana's type of Anthophyllum clavus. 



1846. Anthophyllum clavus Dana, U. S. Expl. Exped., Zooph., p. 403, plate 28, fig. 3, 3a, jb. 



1857. Galaxea musicalis Milne Edwards and Haime, Hist. nat. Corall., vol. 2, p. 225. 



1888. Galaxea musicalis Quelch, Reef Corals, Challenger Reports, p. 71. 



1914. Galaxea musicalis Matthai, Trans. Linn. Soc. London., 2d ser., Zoo!., vol. 17, p. 62, plate 16, figs 2, 3. 



Quelch reports a specimen under the name G. musicalis from Somerset, Cape 

 York, depth 5 fathoms. Matthai also refers the same specimen to G. musicalis as 

 defined by Milne Edwards and Haime. 



Dana's type of Anthophyllum clavus, No. 47, U. S. National Museum, is repre- 

 sented by plate 33, figure 1. Matthai combined G. clavus (Dana) and G. musicalis 1 

 as defined by Milne Edwards and Haime, a course in which I believe he is correct. 

 The following is Milne Edwards and Haime's description 2 of the species. 



"Polypierites tres ecartees, fibres en haut dans une certaine etendue, a cotes tres-peu 

 saillantes. Ordinairement trois cycles complets; les cloisons inegalement epaisses suivant 

 les ordres. Pentheque tres-dense, a cellules tres-petites, ayant a peine un demi-millimetre 

 dans leur plus grande etendue. Largeur des calices, 4 ou au plus 5 millim.; ils sont distants 

 entre eux de 6 ou 7." 



Although large colonies usually form ascending columns, they do not invariably 

 do so. There is in the U. S. National Museum a colony 15.5 by 18.5 cm. in diameter 

 at the base, which has a nodulate upper surface, but there are no columns. 



'Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 2d ser., Zool., vol. 17, p. 62. 2 Hist. nat. Corall., vol. 2, pp. 225, 226, 1857. 



