THE ALCYONARIA OF THE MALDIVES. 477 



Tubipora, however, is abundant on the coast of Zanzibar, the Seychelles, and the Red 

 Sea, very rare in the Maldives, and I have Professor Herdman's authority for saying that 

 it must be scarce or rare off the coast of Ceylon, as not a single specimen occurs in his 

 extensive collection from those waters. It is difficult to account for the scarcity of Tubipora 

 in these regions, as on most of the coral reefs of the world it is one of the most abun- 

 dant and luxuriant Alcyonarians. The absence of the characteristic Zanzibar genera Coelo- 

 gorgia and Lemnalia from the Maldives is also a noteworthy feature. 



On the other hand the genus Heliopora, which is so widely distributed on the reefs 

 of the Malay archipelago, Torres Straits, and Pacific Ocean, is also abundant in the 

 Maldives. Mr Gardiner writes that at Hulule Male " Heliopora occurs practically everywhere 

 near the reef inside the boulder zone if other corals grow. It does not, however, live near 

 the velu (lagoonlet, Hulule being a faro or small atoll). It is not at all common to the 

 west, but great masses are found to the east, usually dead in the centre with plates 

 growing out all round, the tops just awash at low-tide springs. Some of the masses are 

 five to six feet across, but none have any great thickness. All now lie freely (not attached) 

 on the sand. The polyps are but rarely expanded in the daytime, and then only towards 

 the bases of the branches, that is, in the shade. The corallum does not appear to be 

 bored by any other organism." 



Speaking more generally he writes, " Heliopora is nowhere of any special importance in 

 building the reefs. It may be found almost anywhere towards the outer sides of the atolls 

 on the reefs. Small colonies may grow on the reef flat, but they are very rare." 



The genus Xenia does not appear to be very abundant, nor to reach a large size. The 

 specimens sent to me were found at Addu in the extreme S. of the archipelago and at 

 N. Male in the northern half, and this suggests that the genus probably occurs sporadically 

 throughout the archipelago. The Maldives, however, do not seem to be as favourable for the 

 growth of this form as the Chagos archipelago in the S., Zanzibar and the Red Sea to the 

 west, or such localities as New Britain, Torres Straits, and the coast of Celebes and Temate. 



Spongodes appears to be extremely abundant and varied in character. When all the 

 specimens are placed side by side, however, there is no one feature to be observed to distinguish 

 them from the Spongodes of other reefs. The genus appears to be widely spread over the 

 whole of the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Malayan seas, and the tropical Pacific Ocean. It is 

 remarkable that the genera Nephtliya, and Paraspongodes are so rare, being represented by only 

 one specimen of each. 



The genus Chironephthya (W. and S.), which was for many years after its discovery by the 

 Challenger expedition known to occur at a depth of 200 fathoms in Japanese waters, has 

 recently been described by Hiles (12) from New Britain in shallow water, probably occurs in 

 shallow water at Funafuti (cf. Whitelegge 24, Siphonogorgia macrospina), occurs off Singapore 

 (e. coll. Bedford), off Ceylon (e. coll. Herdraan), and is now shown to be abundant in depths 

 of about 20 fathoms in the Maldive archipelago. The genera Solenocaulon and Siphonogorgia 

 appear to have a distribution very similar to that of Spongodes. 



