90 KKCENT MAUREPOKAKIA OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS AND LAYSAN. 



latioiis. whicli vaiv in coar.soiu\ss. Oii(> additional characteristic of the septa deserves 

 notice: They arc narrow in their upper portion, seeininj? to originate down in the 

 calice, a short distance below the edge of its mouth. 



Quelch, in 1886," reunited P. axpera and P. jilicnfa, after Verrill had retained 

 tiie name /'. jilicata for the Fijian specimens, conferring the name P. mpei-a var. 

 lata on those from the Hawaiian Islands included 1)y Dana in his P. j^Ucata. 

 Quelch's specimens came from the reefs at Honolulu at dejjths of 1 to 2 fathoms. 

 Gardiner, in his On some Collections of Corals of the Family Pocilloporidie from 

 the S. W. Pacific Ocean/' says: "Although I have only had the opportunity of 

 examining a very limited number of specimens, as I can find no distinctive 

 characters, I have no hesitation in combining P. aspera, P. danse, P. llqulata^ 

 and P. plicata under one species with three varieties." P. aspera must be placed 

 in the synonomy of P. Injidata. P. daruf, type Cat. No. 696 U.S.N.M., is 

 not closely related to J\ Jigulata, but is very close to P. damicornis (Esper) (I 

 seriously doubt the existence of any valid differences between them) and is some- 

 what intermediate between that species and P. verrucosa. Verrill says, concerning 

 /'. pli.catd (from the Fijis): ''This species may best be distinguished from P. aspera 

 var. lata by the more distant cells, more highly developed septa, the iiner and more 

 even granulation of the surface, and the more porous texture." Dana's figure of the 

 calice of P. pUcata, (plate L, tig. 7?>) is so similar to the calice of P. ligulata or P. 

 aspera that it could serve for the latter species. The differences pointed out by 

 Verrill do not seem, to me to be important. I am therefore inclined to agree with 

 Dana, Quelch. and Gardiner in considering the Hawaiian and Fijian specimens as 

 belonging to the same species, but as I have not carefully compared specimens from 

 the two regions, J prefer not to record a positive opinion. 



Localities. — French Frigate Shoal. Station ;396S; depth, 14^ fathoms; bottom, 

 coarse sand, coral; temperature at surface, 75"^ F. ; and Laysan, Albatross, 1902. 

 Kahana, Oahu, W. T. Brigham. Reefs, Honolulu; depth, 1 to 2 i&thoms{ Glial I evger 

 expedition). Waikiki. Oahu. and Pukoo. Molokai. J. E. Dunden. collector. Laysan, 

 Studci-. 



5. POCILLOPORA FRONDOSA Verrill. 

 1869. Focilliporafrondu.vi 'V'kukii.l, I'roc. Essex Inst., VI, p. 9ti. 

 Original descriptiott. — Verrill describes this species as follows: 



Corallum light and unusually porous, forming hemispherical clumps, consisting of numerous 

 elongated, irregular, often crooked, compressed, frond-like branches, with expanded and variously 

 lobed and plicate ends. The branches are from 0.3 of an inch to 1.5 broad, and 0.3 to 0.5 thick, 

 except at the summits, which are scarcely 0.25. The verruca are nearly obsolete, both upon the sides 

 and ends of the branches, being represented upon the lateral surfaces only by distant and slightly 

 elevated, irregular prominences and low ridges, which are often wholly wanting. Cells large and deep, 

 rather crowded, the spaces between seldom equal to half their diameter even low down on the sides 

 of the branches. Sei)ta twelve, ([uite distinct, though narron-, one of them joining the columella, 

 which is usually distinct, but low down in the cell; surface of the cwnenchyraa rough, thickly covered 

 with rather coarse spiiudes. 



Hawaiian Islands, W. T. Brigham. 



«Reef Corals, Challenger Rept., p. 68. 

 * Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1897, p. 948. 



