J24 THfiYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



Verrill characterises the sect/' «pecies which have a rather thin ccenenchyma, 

 filled with long spindles ; with IcJibconical verrucas arising from between the large 

 spicula and usually standing at ri|s^gl^^s to the surface, and covered with much 

 smaller and shorter spindles." He 'es in it Muricea flexuosa, Koll., Muricea 

 nitida, Koll., Muricea hicmosa, Kolt^i'^ea tuberculata, Koll., here also belongs 

 Muricea umbraticoides, Stdr. 



1. Muricella tenera, Eidley. 



Murkella tenera, Eidley, Zool. Coll. H.M.S. "Alert," 1884, p. SLf"^^^'- ^8®' ^' ^'' ^' ^'■ 



One specimen in the Challenger collection agrees well with Ridley's "Sesiifl^' ^"^ 

 few differences to be noticed being doubtless owing to our specimen being very well 

 preserved in spirits. The colony is erect, spreading ; branches either simple or at a- 

 little distance from the stem becoming irregularly pinnate, arising in one plane. 

 Polyps in two rows, on the front or side of the main stem or branches ; the termination 

 of the branches with two polyps opposite one another, giving a triangular appearance to 

 the apex ; the axis of growth of the main stem or branches is truly terminal, and as 

 it elongates, the polyps become alternate. In the Challenger specimen, apparently only 

 a fragment, the main stem is 70 mm. high ; the principal branches extending to a length 

 of 65 mm. Diameter of the main stem 3 mm., and the same for the principal branches. 

 The large polyps, well figured by Ridley, are upright, shaped like a truncated cone, whose 

 margins are produced into eight triangular flaps. The oral region is protected by a 

 covering, formed out of the basal portions of the tentacles, which contain s^Dicules. In 

 the figure given by Ridley, the body is represented as surrounded by spicules, which 

 extend the whole length of the calyx, and the tips of which form the margin ; in 

 the present specimen, the spicules are arranged round the polyp, in many rows, from the 

 base to the above-described margin. Some may object to the form being placed under 

 Muricella, and may think it has a closer affinity to Anthogorgia, Verrill. Dr. Coppinger's 

 specimens were found at Port MoUe, Queensland. 



Habitat. — Station 192, off the Ki Islands, south of Papua ; depth, 140 fathoms. 



2. Muricella umbraticoides, Studer. 



MuriceUauinhi-aiicokles, Studer, Monatsber. d.k. Akad. d. Wiss. Berlin, 1878, p. G50, pi. iii. fig.HJ. 



The small-sized axis of this species is symmetrically branched in one plane, and is 

 about 75 mm. high. Ridley, who received the species from Port Curtis and Port 

 Molle, thinks the description given by Studer of the spicules is not quite exact ; he says 

 "the 'halbseitig warzig ' character of the spicules appears hardly to exist, and the 

 tubercles should be rough and more distinct from each other than his otherwise good 



