88 MADREPORARTA. 
Corallum very broad cespitose (corymbose ?), slightly convex ; branches horizontal, coa- 
lescing into a flattened lamina nearly entire, naked below, and interrupted by an occasional 
break ; above branchlets spiciform, 8 to 12 mm. thick, and 5 to 6°3 em. long, often proliferous 
and irregular. Axial corallites 2 to 3 mm. broad and little prominent. Radial corallites 
tubiform appressed, very unequal, often 4 mm. long, and 1:5 mm. broad, stout, with an ob- 
tuse lip, exterior finely striate, smooth; aperture scarcely elliptical; star quite distinct. 
(Dana.) 
Unfortunately it does not at present appear clear which specimens in the Berlin Museum 
were referred by Studer to WM. secale. Those which are now labelled M. secale, but not in 
Studer’s handwriting, do not all belong to our species, and none of them appear to me 
to agree with Dana’s description of M. plantaginea, which, in the absence of a diagnosis by 
Studer, must be held as the diagnosis of M, secale. 
The specimens which I have referred to this species have the following characters :— 
Corallum corymbose, up to 48 cm. wide and 12 cm. high, not pedicellate. Main branches 
horizontal or oblique, more or less confluent, but scarcely fused into a plate. Under surface 
provided with short, blunt, oblique twigs, covered with verruciform and immersed corallites. 
Branches on the upper surface erect, 5 to 7°5 cm. long, and 8 to 12 mm. thick, simple or 
divided, usually proliferous, apices about 2.cm. apart. Axial corallites 2°5 to 3mm. diameter, 
subcylindrical, 1 to 4 mm. exsert, aperture variable in size, sometimes 15 mm. Radial coral- 
lites appressed, crowded, and very unequal, not usually compressed, chiefly rostrate, dimidiate 
or rostrate, or tubo-nariform ; wall usually thickened, outer part often convex; those below 
are hemicotyloid and finally immersed; diameter 1:5 to 2°5 mm., length 3 to 6mm. The 
star consists of 6 well-developed septa, of which the directives are very broad. Corallum 
dense ; surface reticulate ; wall not striate, clothed with fine, simple echinulations. In two of 
the specimens, numerous examples of Pecten madreporarum, Petit, occur near the base of the 
branchlets, and a special plate of coral is secreted around each valve of the shell. The radial 
corallites are always appressed, but the outer part of the wall is more elongate in some speci- 
mens than in others. The species has a similar habit to M. concinna, but differs in the 
angle of the corallites, and the less complete inner part of the wall. The form of the coral- 
lites in Dana’s specimens is not given clearly. A specimen in the Berlin Museum labelled 
M. secale does not agree so well with Dana’s description as those described above, but 
may be one of the specimens studied by Studer. I have described it as new under the name 
M. alliomorpha. 
Indo-Pacific Ocean : Ceylon, East Indies, Singapore, China. 
a ? Purchased. 44. 6. 10. 2. 
6. ——? ? 93. 4. 7. 105. 
Ge ? Purchased. 41. 1. 13. 16. 
? d. Singapore. Purchased. 78. 6. 6. 4. 
?e. China (probably 8.). Fisheries Exhib. 84. 2. 26. 21. 
?f,g- Ceylon. Haeckel Coll. 92. 12. 5. 20 & 28. 
h, Vizard Bank, H.M.S. ‘Rambler’ 89. 9. 24.103. (=M. globiceps, B.-Sm.) 
2. Tizard Bank. H.M.S, ‘Rambler.’ 89. 9. 24. 108. (=WM. acervata, B.-Sm.) 
