A. I'l l^'erri/l — Bermxidian (Did West Indiaji Reef Cor<ds. 185 



In fact, tlie description calls for a coarsely costate and rough 

 coral, having scattered, stellate calicles, without collines. 



The genus PhyllaMrma Dana, based on P. tnhifex Dana, corre- 

 sponds to it in many respects, and is evidently congeneric with it, as 

 noted by Edw. and Haime. Several other allied species are known 

 to me. 



Unfortunately, VAw. and Haime described as elephantotus a very 

 distinct species, with very fine, close, equal costal stria' on the under 

 side, and this has heli)ed to perpetuate the confusion. 



Esper (Pflanz., i, })1. xviii, tigs. 1-4) figured as M. eJepluDdotiis 

 Pallas, from the East Indies, a foliaceous species, with thin, clustered, 

 convoluted fronds, strongly radially costate and serrate, but not 

 echinate, below. Calicles stellate, appressed, raised proximally, with 

 coarse, serrate, angular septa. This may well be the real elephanto- 

 tus Pallas. It corresponds to it better than does anv other figure. 



Dana (Zooph., p. 339) referred to a specimen of this species that 

 he had seen in Peale's Museum, Philadelphia. This museum was 

 burned many years ago, but Dana's sketch of this specimen is 

 in the collections of the Yale Museum, with other unpublished draw- 

 ings of corals presented by him. 



It is probably of Indo-Pacific origin. 



Ehrenberg described in 1834 a different species under the name 

 of Agaricia ? elephantotus* It had calicles six lines in diameter^ 

 which is much larger than those of Esper's species. 



The Mycediura Okeni Edw. and Haime (Hist., iii, p. "75, pi. D125 

 figs. \a, 'ib (not 2)), also has large calicles, 10"™ in diameter, and is 

 probably very close to elephantotus, if not the same. It has rough, 

 dentate, angular septa and the calicles somewhat in series. There 

 is evidently an error in the numbering of the figures on the plate. 

 Quelch (op. cit., p. 116) referred this species to Phyllastrcea Dana. 



As for M. ciicullata Ellis and Sol., it seems to be a species of 

 Agaricia that cannot yet be positively identified. I have seen no 

 specimens like it, nor do any of the modern descriptions agree very 

 w^ell with it. It is certainly not the same as elephantotus of Pallas, 

 though it may be the species wrongly called by that name in some 

 modern books; possibly it is the M. elephantotus of Edw. and Haime, 

 but the latter is not the elephantoUis Pallas. Gregory puts it as 

 a synonym of his erroneous elephantotus-fragiUs. The A. ciicullata 

 Dana is probably A. purpurea Les., described below. 



* Doubting its real identity with the Pallasian species, he gave it the provi- 

 sional name of megasfoma, as noted also by Dana. It is perhaps a Tridac- 

 ophyUia. Edw. and Haime, ii, p. 381, consider it the young of T. lactuca. 



