PACIFIC TUNICATA OF U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 99 



MATERIAL EXAMINED 



PuiLiPPiNE Islands : I'uiita Natangul, Basilan Island ; W. R. Taylor, sta. 31. 

 Four colonies (USNM 11G02).— Balukbuhik Lsland ; W. R. Taylor, sta. 40. Two 

 colonies (USNM 11639).— Boboh, near Malaual Point; W. R. Taylor, sta. 41. 

 One colony (USNM 11073). — Mauicaan, 3 fath., sandy with sliort eelgrasses and 

 little coral reefs, W. R. Taylor, January 1941. One colony (USNM 11(545). 



Palau Islands : Iwayania Bay, Geruherugairu Pass ; GVF sta. 85A. Six speci- 

 mens (USNM 11452). — Fringing reef of small island in lagoon (Meharehar) of 

 Eil Malk ; GVF sta. 252. Six small specimens attached to coralline algae (USNM 

 11435). 



Marshall Islands : Ebon Atoll, M. W. de Laubenfels, no. M-139, July 5, 1949. 

 One colony encrusting a reef coral {Scriatoporal) (USNM 11541). 



Gilbert Islands : Onotoa Atoll ; P. E. Cloud, sta. GOC-44. Many small colonies 

 (USNM 11479). 



Description. — Many small colonies from the Gilbert Islands, 8 

 small colonies from the Philippines, 1 dried specimen from Ebon Atoll, 

 and 12 small colonies from the Palau Islands were examined. The 

 largest is 20 nmi. X 12 mm. in extent and 2-3 mm. in thickness, smaller 

 colonies are usually about 1 mm. thick. Colonies are all encrusted; 

 small colonies simply elliptical or roundish in outline, larger ones gen- 

 erally irregularly lobated. Living animals vivid cerulean blue or 

 bright green, but preserved specimens fade to yellowish brown or turn 

 dark brownish. Test gelatmous, not so soft, translucent or transpar- 

 ent, and containing no spicules or other materials. Surface of colony 

 smooth, quite free from foreign matter. Abundant zoochlorellae in 

 lacunae. Zooids of the colony from Manicaan Island, Philippine Is- 

 lands, are dark brownish, but whether this coloration is natural is 

 questionable. Atrial aperture very wide. Six stigmata in each of four 

 rows. Hind stomach clearly defined by distinct constrictions between 

 it and the pyloric end of stomach and midintestine ; usually enveloped 



Figure 33. — Leptoclinum virens Hartmeyer. Gastric region of the alimentary canal of 

 a zooid of colony a, from the Gilbert Islands and b, from Manicaan, the Philippine 

 Islands. Hind stomach narrowed in former, but rather swollen in latter; well defined 

 in botli specimens. 



