714 ALLAN HANCOCK PACIFIC EXPEDITIONS VOL. 14 



I have not been able to determine the nature of the primary brood- 

 chambers near the central area, but the secondary chambers near the 

 border are covered in the usual manner by a calcified porous membrane ; 

 here they lie between the rays, in some cases extending on both sides of 

 a short secondary ray. They are soon covered by secondary cancelli. 

 The ooeciostome is hardly distinguishable from the cancelli in height 

 and size, but the orifice is w^ide open, rounded and its wall thin. 



I must agree with Borg (1944:223) that the L. radiata of Canu and 

 Bassler (1928:163 and plate 29, figs. 1-2) from north of Cuba, and 

 those of Osburn (1940:334) from Porto Rico, cannot be identified with 

 Discoporella radiata of Waters (1879:276) from the Bay of Naples, 

 nor with the Melobesia radiata of Audouin (1826:235). Waters states: 

 "In most specimens the cancelli appear open; but in well-preserved ones 

 a delicate calcareous cover is found covering the aperture: and this is 

 perforated with about 2-10 holes," which is clearly shown in his plate 

 24, fig. 11a. The figures of Melobesia radiata Audouin show a round 

 zoarium with a small round central area ; a central brood-chamber cov- 

 ered by a calcareous porous membrane and with lobes extending between 

 radii; the radii high, elongate and uniserial, the tubes connate to the 

 tips and ending in sharp points. Apparently there is no other species 

 recorded from the Mediterranean or Red Seas with which Waters could 

 have confused his D. radiata, and we must conclude that it is Audouin's 

 M. radiata and is a Lichenopora in the strict sense. 



On the other hand, the L. radiata of Canu and Bassler and of Osburn, 

 from the West Indies, has an ovate or rounded zoarium with a large 

 ovate central area ; the cancelli thick-walled and without a covering 

 calcified membrane ; the brood-chambers not centrally located ; the uni- 

 serial connate radii much less elevated. These West Indian specimens 

 appear to conform in every particular with Disporella ovoidea, as de- 

 scribed above, and it is probable that Canu and Bassler's reference to 

 L. radiata from the Galapagos Islands is also to the same species, since 

 Dr. Bassler informs me (in litt.) that it has "a large, slightly elongate 

 central area, with the cancelli and rows of tubules as in the Cuban one." 

 How many other references to radiata are untenable it is impossible to 

 say, as it has often been recorded without description or figures, but it 

 seems safe to state that it has not been found on the Pacific coast of the 

 Americas. 



Our material consists of 4 colonies, 2 from the Galapagos Islands, 1 

 from Colombia and 1 from southern California, a wide distribution to 

 be sure, but they all agree in the elongate form of the central area, the 



