THE ALCYONARIA OF THE MALDIVES. 497 



The fragment L moreover exhibits branches which have a remarkable resemblance in 

 their form and the manner in which the anthocodiae are distributed upon them to those 

 of Studer's species S. grayi. 



The specimen F from Mulaku I should place with Gray's species Leucoella cervicornis, 

 were it not for specimen E, which is intermediate in character between Leucoella cervi- 

 cornis and Solenocaulon grayi. The spicules of F cannot be distinguished from those of the 

 type specimen of Leucoella cervicornis. The other specimens cannot be so easily placed in 

 any known species, but appear to form intermediate stages of growth or modification between 

 those already referred to. It appears to me that the facts above mentioned point to the 

 conclusion that all these specimens of the genus Solenocaulon from the Maldives belong to 

 one species, and by the general custom of priority should be referred to Gray's species 

 Solenocaulon tortuosum. Such a conclusion, however, would not be justified without reference 

 to other characters than the mode of growth. 



That there are differences between the spicules in my preparations cannot be denied, but 

 when due allowance is made for the variation in size and shape of the spicules of the various 

 parts of one specimen there remains such a strong family likeness between them all, including 

 Leucoella cervicornis, that the differences cannot be expressed in words or figures. When 

 the different accounts of the spicules of the genus are compared there is a surprising similarity 

 rather than difference in their character to be noticed. I have collected, for example, the 

 length-measurements given of the long-thorned spicules of the axis, and they are as follows. 



S. tubulosum (Genth) 0"36 circa. S. grayi (Studer) 0'37 — 0'4. <S. tortuosum (Studer) 03 — 

 0"4. >S'. tortuosum (Ridley) 038. Leucoella cervicornis (Ridley) 0'35 — 0'42. S. sterroMonium 

 (Germanos) 0'2 — 0'38. These figures are sufficient to show that in the matter of this measure- 

 ment there is a remarkable uniformity even in specimens so far apart as Torres Straits and 

 the Maldive archipelago, and as other measurements show con-esponding results the spicules 

 do not afford sufficient grounds for splitting the genus up into specie.s. 



The next feature it was necessary to investigate was the character of the verrucae. I 

 carefully selected branches from several of the specimens from the Maldives, and dried them 

 slowly by exposure to the air in the laboratory, and then examined them with a 1 inch 

 objective. In all cases some of the polyps were contracted so much that the spicules of the 

 tentacles were below the level of the veri'ucae. In others which were not so completely re- 

 tracted there could be seen an arrangement of the spicules at the back of the tentacles and 

 in the neck of the anthocodiae {i.e. what I have called on p. 488 the crown and point spicules) 

 similar to that described and figured (Fig. 17) by Genth. Another point of considerable 

 importance I found in studying one of the pol}'ps of a specimen, and that is the presence of 

 rough and somewhat irregular spindle-shaped spicules supporting the pinnules, in the manner 

 described and figured by Genth, 0'2 mm. in length. The presence of these spicules in Genth's 

 specimen from the Philippines, and in this specimen from the Maldives, is especially note- 

 worthy. 



In conclusion I may say that I propose to name the specimens of Solenocaulon in the 

 collection as follows : 



ABC Solenocaulon tortuosum, Facies tubulosum Genth, 

 D G H K M Solenocaulon tortuosum, Facies tortuosum Gray, 

 L E Solenocaulon tortuosum, Facies grayi Studer, 



F Solenocaulon tortuosum, Facies cervicornis Gray. 



G. II. 64 



