72 MADREPORARIA. 
48. Porites Ellice Islands q79, (P. Llliciana nona.) (PI. VI. figs. 5, 6.) 
[Funafuti (lagoon), coll. J. S. Gardiner; British Museum. | 
Syn. Porites arenosa (partim) Gardiner (non Esper), Proc. Zool. Soc. (1898) p. 272. 
Description.—The corallum is flat-topped, with wavy surface, and thick rounded edges 
projecting freely, under which the colony is alive for 2 cm. Where the edge does not over- 
hang, life may extend 4 cm. down, and a creeping edge appears adhering closely to the dead 
previous growths or to other bodies. 
The calicles are densely crowded, separated only by thin, raised wall-ridges; they vary in 
size, the larger being 1-3 mm. in diameter. The wall-ridge consists of a nearly compact row of 
trabecule, the tips of which are round frosted granules, which together form a continuous thread. 
Within this ridge, and nearly from its edge, septal granules begin to appear ; beneath the top 
ring of granules, a ring of horizontal flakes occurs, and these meeting those on each side of them 
there is an approach to the formation of a flat shelf running round the calicle. The septa are 
extremely thin, but conspicuous owing to the crisp frosted granules and pali, for in addition ‘to’. 
the wall granules, there is also usually a ring of very minute septal granules. The pali are 
small, and form an oblong ring of eight, in which the septal granules seem to supply all but the 
four principals (see Introduction, p. 20, and E, fig. 3). The central tubercle is represented by 
a long, thin, flat plate, deep down; it may divide into two small granules. On the under side 
of the edge of the stock the granular system is all nearly level with the surface (see fig. 6), 
and is complete and symmetrical, the granules and the wall ridge being here sharply echinulate 
rather than merely frosted. 
This form seems to come halfway between P. Ellice Islands 8 and 10; the septa are 
long and thin, but made conspicuous by being frosted as in the former, but there is a strong 
tendency for the basal or wall portion of the septa to fuse as flakes to form a shelf round the 
calicle; this shortens the septa, as in P. Ellice Islands 10. Further, the septa do not slope 
downwards into the funnel-shaped fossa, but develop small but distinct pali. 
We have already had occasion to refer to the flat-topped growth-forms with projecting and 
rapidly growing edges. In all cases hitherto the description has been based entirely upon a 
fragment broken off from one of these edges. In this specimen we fortunately have the 
complete form, but not quite so symmetrical as shown in Diagram fig. 8, Pl. XITI. (on this 
form see Introduction, p. 22); This may, perhaps, be accounted for by its having come early 
in contact with other corals. Its base, for instance, incorporates a fragment of what appears 
to have been a Montipora, 
ee Zool. Dept. 1905. 1. 19. 19. 
