McDichestcr Memoirs, Vol. Ixi. (191 6), No. 1. 35 



The characters are those of the genus, but I hold that it would 

 be a mistake to give this small specimen a specific name. 



Locality, etc. — Pieter Faure, No. 10,880. Umhloti River 

 mouth, N. by W., A W., 8A miles. Depth, 40 fathoms. Taken 

 by large dredge. Nature of bottom, sand and shells (hard 

 ground). Date, December i8th, 1900. 



Lophogorgij lit t kern, Wright and Studer. 



Plate I., Fig. 2. 



The specimen is not complete, but there is a main axis from 

 which branches arise on two sides, some of which remain 

 simple, and others divide and re-divide. There is a sinuous 

 line running up the flat side of the mam stem and on most 

 of the branches, but it is never very prominent, and on the 

 terminal branches becomes indistinct or disappears. The 

 polyps are situated on each side of this line, and v/hen re- 

 tracted form a slit. The main stem and branches are flattened 

 in the plane of expansion, but the terminal ones are more 

 rounded, and the polyps tend to be distributed on all sides. 

 On the flattened sides, the polyps frequently stand opposite 

 one another. There is a slight anastomosis of the branches, 

 and the terminal ones are slightly expanded at the tips, where 

 two or more polyps are situated. The coenenchyme covering 

 the axis is not thick, and it is finely granular. The 

 axis is brown and flattened near the base, but yellow and 

 more rounded in the upper parts of the colony. The main 

 stem is not, but the upper parts are distinctly flexible. The 

 branches from the main axis do not as a rule originate opposite 

 one another. The main stem is not straight, but has a more 

 or less sinuate form. The calyces are only very slightly raised 

 above the surface of the coenenchyme. 



The spicules agree exactly in shape (even to the needles, 

 with short processes in the tentacles) with these described for 

 this species by Wright and Studer in the " Challenger " volume. 

 The specimen is a more typical example oi Lophogorgia Inikeni 

 than that described by Thomson and Henderson from Ceylon. 

 The spicules are, however, smaller than in Wright and Studer's 

 example. The smaller spindles are from 0.034 x 0.030 to 

 0.044 ^ 0.030 mm. The larger spindles are from 0.075 ^ 0.040 

 to 0.087 X 0.054. Ii^ Wright and Studer's specimen the spicules 

 of the coenenchyme are from 0.2 x 0.04 to 0.34 x 0.02 mm. It 

 IS necessary to give a further description, as the specimen 

 essentially agrees with that of Wright and Studer. 



Locality, etc. — Pieter Faure, No. 15,724. Off Gordon's 

 Bay, 6-14 fathoms. By dredge. Nature of bottom, rocks. 

 This species has been previously recorded from Prince Edward 

 Island, Zanzibar, Ceylon, and the Gulf of Kutch TKathiawar 

 Peninsula). 



