HYDROCORALS OF THE NORTH PACIFIC — FISHER 515 



ALLOPORA SCABIOSA (Broch) 



Plate 76, Figures 7, 8 



Siylaster scabiosa Broch, Einige Stylasteriden (Hydrokorallen) der ochotskischen 



und japanischen See, p. 60, 1935. 

 Stylaster {Allopora) scabiosa Broch, Untersuchungen an Stylasteriden, p. 72, 



fig. 24, pi. 12, figs. 32, 33, 1936. 



Diagnosis. — Color red to pale warm pink; colony slenderly built, 

 branching mostly in one plane ; cyclosystems on all sides of peripheral 

 branchlets; back of principal branches and stem almost without cyclo- 

 systems. Dactylotomes 7 to 15, mostly 8 to 11, cuttmg rather deep 

 on eide of gastropore, the sides parallel as viewed from above ; gastro- 

 pore about as deep as in moseleyana, but often slightly curved, more 

 funnel shaped, with a less definitely differentiated style chamber; style 

 slender. 



Type locality.— Okhotsk Sea, lat. 54° 53' N., long. 144° E., 505 

 meters, bottom temperature 1.44° C. 



Specimens examined. — Tlu'ee fragments (co types). 



Remarks. — In general habit this species is superficially like S. norve- 

 gicus pacificus but differs in havmg a more open funnel-shaped gastro- 

 pore, smaller gastrostyle, more numerous dactylopores, and super- 

 ficial ampullae. In the three fragments of the cotype sent me by 

 Dr. Broch, the ampullae are m two distinct sizes. The larger, which 

 I would call female, are low-convex, much lower than broad, and of 

 about the diameter ot a cyclosystem. They are very numerous on a 

 dichotomously branched twig 20 by 30 mm. Two other branchlets 

 have what I should call "male" ampullae, only half the size of the 

 "female." These are nearly as prominent as in A. moseleyana and 

 are similar in character to ampullae called "male" in other species, 

 e. g., S. cancellatus, A. poly orchis. 



Dr. Broch describes, however, only male gonophores. Whether 

 these came from both sorts of ampullae or only the larger ones is 

 not clear. Perhaps the use of the term male and female is ill-advised 

 for material that is, oftener than not, dried. In Cryptohelia the larger 

 ampullae are known to hold planulae. The small ampullae, called 

 male, are not immature stages of the large ones, called female, since 

 they frequently differ in fonn. They sometimes, as in moseleyana, 

 are perforated as if for escape of sperm. 



For a full description of A. scabiosa, Dr. Broch's paper should be 

 consulted. He sums up the systematic position of scabiosa as follows: 



"Stylaster scabiosa exhibits great similarity to a lightly built Sty- 

 laster norvegicus and in certain respects occupies an intermediate posi- 

 tion between the latter and S. boreopacificus, but differs from both in 

 having a much higher dactylopore count." 



