4 GENERAL REMARKS. 
In an enumeration of the works in which species of the genus Madrepora s. s. are 
recorded it is necessary to begin with Linneus, who recognized only one species, viz. 
M. muricata. Pallas did not describe any new species, but divided M. muricata into three 
varieties, viz.:—a. ramosa, B. corymbosa, and y. an incrusting variety. Esper, in his 
‘ Pflanzenthiere, figures several varieties of M. muricata and also another which he named 
M. rosacea, which appears to be distinct, but had been overlooked until Studer revived the 
name. Lamarck, in 1816 *, described 9 new species of Madrepora and dropped altogether 
the name M. muricata, Linn., to which, indeed, he does not refer in the synonymy. No new 
recent species are added in the second edition of Lamarck’s work edited by Milne-Edwards, 
but a list is appended of 7 fossil species of doubtful affinity described by Goldfuss and 
Defrance. 
Ehrenberg, in his ‘ Red-Sea Corals,’ recognized 21 species, 18 of which are described as 
new ; the remainder are referred, though sometimes erroneously, to species already described 
by Lamarck. He regarded Astrea pulvinaria and A. microphthalma, Lamk., as synonyms of 
Madr. palmata, Lamk., and referred Oculina echidnea, Lamk., to the genus Madrepora 
(Heteropora, Ehrb.). It should be understood that, although Ehrenberg’s work is nominally 
on the Red-Sea Corals, several species of Madrepora are included in it which were not 
collected in the Red Sea. In the account of the Zoophytes collected during the voyage of 
the ‘ Astrolabe,’ Quoy-and Gaimard enumerate 4 species of Madrepora from Tongatabu and 
Fiji, all of which are referred to species already described by Lamarck. Unfortunately the 
descriptions and figures given are so imperfect that subsequent authors have found it almost 
impossible to identify the species ; even Miine-Edwards, who had access to the collection, gave 
up the task as hopeless. 
Next in order follows Dana’s work on the Zoophytes of the North-American Exploring 
Expedition, probably the most important work on recent Corals which has yet appeared. The 
work contains descriptions of 64 species of Madrepora which were observed by the author, 53 
of which are described as new; the majority of the new species are figured in the Atlas. 
Duchassaing, in 1850, published a list of Radiata from the Antilles in which three species of 
Madrepora are enumerated. M. plantaginea, Lamk., was probably included in error, and was 
omitted from the author’s later works. 
In 1860 the 3rd volume of Milne-Edwards and Haime’s ‘ Coralliaires’ appeared, in 
which the species of Madrepora described by previous authors are arranged and classified ; 
eighteen new species are also described. No work of so comprehensive a character has since 
been published, and the ‘Coralliaires’ is therefore still a necessary handbook ; but its 
usefulness is considerably interfered with by the shortness and insufficiency of the diagnoses 
and the almost complete absence of illustrations. It is probably owing to these conditions 
that subsequent investigators have so frequently failed to recognize the species described by 
Lamarck and Milne-Edwards. 
In 1860 also Valenciennes contributed a short paper to the ‘Comptes Rendus’ on the 
* References to the systematic works are given under each species in the synonymy. 
