REPORT ON THE REEF-CORALS. 141 
irregularly bent and confluent, subdistinct costee, which are thin at the marginal part of 
the corallum and thicker at the central portion, and are covered by closely crowded, small, 
blunt, extremely granulated papillee, which are arranged more or less irregularly and often 
in small clusters. Calicles very distinct, apparently arranged around a central calicle, 
irregularly placed, sometimes crowded but generally separated by spaces of from 
6 to 15 mm. Fossa small, subcireular or oval, very distinct owing to the close and even 
arrangement of the ends of the septa around it. Septa of three cycles, very distinctly 
radiate, continuous between adjoining calicles, very oblique at the inner part and much 
raised between the cells which thus become placed in wide depressions; the primaries 
and secondaries thick, with a rather sharp edge, which is irregularly divided and very 
granulated, with rather small teeth; the smaller septa very thin, crenulate and granu- 
lated ; all the septa are evenly and closely placed, thus giving a neat and even appear- 
ance to the corallum. Columella slightly papillose, rudimentary. 
A single specimen of this species was obtained. It is especially interesting as 
presenting a case of the development of a complete corallum from a fractured portion. 
The original piece with the costz running in one direction forms the central portion of 
the specimen, the costz of the lateral portions of the later growth being directed at 
right angles to those of the original piece from which they are developed. 
The long diameter of the specimen is about 20 em., and its thickness about 2 cm. 
Locality.—Amboina. 
Genus 4. Cryptabacia, Milne-Edwards and Haime. 
Cryptabacia, Milne-Edwards and Haime, Cor., iii. p. 22. 
ss Duncan, Rev. Madrep., p. 144. 
The distinctness of this genus from Polyphyllia is extremely doubtful, since one species, 
Polyphyllia substellata, is known which is almost transitional. 
Cryptabacia talpina (Lamarck). 
Fungia talpina, Lamarck, Syst. Anim. sans Vert., p. 370. 
Polyphyllia talpa, Dana, Zoophytes, p. 313, pl. xxi. fig. 5. 
Cryptabacia talpina, Milne-Edwards and Haime, Cor., iii. p. 22. 
The species seems to be very variable in the degree of distinctness of the median series 
and of the lateral calicles, in the prominence, size, and degree of dentation of the septa, 
and in the shape of the corallum. The ends may be pointed with the median series con- 
tinued to the extremity, or more or less rounded with the median series suppressed. A 
slightly curved, long, broad, and pointed specimen was obtained. Tolerably good figures 
are given by Seba." 
Locality.—Amboina. 
1 Thes., iii. tab. exi. No. 6, and tab. exii. No. 31. 
