76 



A comparison of the list of species recorded above from the 

 Indian side of the Gulf of Manaar with those of Dr. Duncan 

 and Mr. Ridley shows, as might be expected, that some of 

 the species are common to the Indian coast of the Q-ulf of 

 Manaar and Ceylon, and others to the Indian coast of the 

 G-ulf of Manaar and the Mergui Archipelago. 



The type specimens of MonHpora irregularis, of which 

 species I obtained several specimens from the Pdmban reef, 

 were obtained during the voyage of the Challenger at Sam- 

 boangan, Philippines. 



I have found no representative of the Hydrocorallinse on 

 the coral reefs, but Millepora dichotoma has been recorded 

 by Ridley ^ from Ceylon. 



The genus Heliopora is apparently not represented on the 

 living reef, but a single specimen of Heliopora edwardsana 

 has been described from the cretaceous deposits of the Trichi- 

 nopoly District of the Madras Presidency, concerning the 

 coral-beds of which Stoliczka writes ^ : — 



" The conditions of the deposits were not so quiet that we 

 could expect to find any of the Alcyouaria or of the Malaco- 

 dermata preserved, but the Sclerodermata or Madreporaria are 

 represented by fifty-seven species, namely, fifty-three belonging 

 to the Aporosa, three to the Perforata, and one to the Tabidata 



Looking at the whole fauna we see the reef -building 



Astraidce, StyWiidce, and Thamnastr<zid(B much exceeding the 

 other famiHes in numbers of species, as v/ell as in frequency of 

 occurrence of specimens. Coral reefs appear to have been of 

 considerable extent, pai-ticularly along the old shores within the 

 Ootatoor group ; in the two other groups they were much more 

 loc^al." 



The method employed by me for the preservation of oorala 

 (^.e.J the skeletons) which I reserve for exhibition, is to 

 expose them to the action of the sun and ants, which remove 

 a large amount of the animal matter, and send them in 

 boxes, surrounded by paper and tightly packed in rice -husk, 

 by native sailing boat to Madras. But, however great the 

 care which is taken, it generally happens that some of the 

 corals become covered with mould during the voyage. The 

 rice-husk, which is usually found clinging to the sm-face of 

 the corals, is removed with a syringe, and the corals, after 

 being submitted to repeated washings with fresh-water, are 



1 Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 5, vol. XI, 1883. 

 * Talteont Ind, Ci ttaceous Fauna of Southern India^ 



