9ti RECENT MADREPORARtA OK THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS AND LATSAN. 



No instaiK-e of coalescence was observed; distance between the ends usually about 

 15 mm. 



Vcrruiii' ine-iularly developed, absent on tlu> basal portion of the oorallum. tend- 

 ing to be obsolete on the under sides of the bi-anches except near the ends, where they 

 are better developed on the upper than on the lower surfaces. Summits of the 

 branches with or without verruca^. In size the verrucie vary from almost imperceptible 

 warts on the surface to protuberances 5 mm. tall and 3.5 mm. in diameter; 2.5 mm. 

 tall and 2 mm. in diameter is probably about an average, but they are of all sizes 

 between the limits just given. The larger verruca? grade into the small, stumpy 

 branchlets. 'I'liey decrease but little in diameter toward the summit; in fact, rather 

 often their ends are swollen. The distiince apart is extremely variable. On the 

 upper surfaces of the terminal branchlets they are crowded, about 2 mm. apart, but 

 they become more distant, ultimately disappearing, as the branch is followed toward 

 the base. Usually thev stand pei'pendicular to the surface of the liranch, are rarely 

 somewhat inclined or are appressed to the surface; there is greater obliqueness on 

 the lower than on the upper surface. 



Calices on the basal portion of the corallum from (t. 8 to 1.1mm. in diameter, 

 separated b\' about once their diameter of coenenchyma; near the ends of the 

 l)ranches somewhat larger, up to 1.3 nnu. in diameter, and more crowded; on the 

 summits about 1 mm. in diameter and separated by still thinner walls. They are 

 shallow, from 0.<) or 0.7 nmi. deep, to almost superficial. Septa poorly developed, 

 often or usually obsolete. Bottoms of the calices usually flat, sometimes arched 

 upward, but there is no columella style. 



CcEuenchyma solid, surface covered with small, erect, pointed spinules, a circle of 

 which surrounds each calice; between the calices one or more concentric circles, or 

 they may be irregularly distributed. The upper portion of the corallite cavities 

 may be tilled solidly with internal deposit or tabula? may be present to the periphery; 

 between the tabula- there may be plugs of internal deposit. The corallum is rela- 

 tively light and porous, not nearly so solid as in /'. ligidaUi,. 



Locality. So\\t\\ coast of Molokai Island, Station 3S47; depth, 23-21: fathoms; 

 bottom, sand, stones; temperature at surface, 76° F. ; 2 specimens, which may be 

 portions of the same colony. 



Cotypes.—iC^t. No. 2099B U.S.N.M. 



Remarl-s.—TK\s sp(>cies does not gi-oup with any of the previously described 

 Poc'dlor>oriv from thi; Hawaiian Islands. Its calices resemble somewhat those of P. 

 nohilis. but its mode of growth and verrucas are entirely different. Its calices are 

 utt(>rly diti'ereiit frotn those of the P. Ih/ulata group of species, besides it differs in the 

 form and character of the verrucie. P. frondvsu has the verruca? nearly obsolete, 

 but has tieep, crowded calices, with distinct septa and a distinct columella. Its near- 

 est relative is P. solida Qnelcli. from Tahiti, and they may prove to be growth forms 

 of the same species. Queich's lignre" of the branches indicate that the ends of the 

 branches of P. solida ar(> thick and swollen, whereas in P. moloJcensis they are nearly 

 always decidedly small. At all events, the Hawaiian specimens can not now be iden- 

 tified with (^uelch's species. 



oReef Corals, Challenger Repts., pi. i, fig. 4. 



