A. E. Verrill — Comparisons of Coral Fcmnoi. 183 



Madracis asperala Edw. & Ilaime ; Moseley, p. 182. — On South- 

 west Bank, :iO fatli. See p. 109, above. 



Mr. G. Browne Goode, in a letter in LsVT, mentions finding a 

 small Astrangla at the Bermudas. The specimens have not been 

 found in his collections. It may have been Astraugia soUturia 

 (Les.) Ver., which is common in the West Indies. 



2. — Characteristics of the West Indian Coral Fauna. 



The coral fauna of the West Indian area is remarkably uniform 

 from Florida and the Bahamas to the Lesser Antilles and the coast 

 of Venezuela, and to Colon. The Florida reefs and keys, so far as 

 known, lack a few species that are found in the Bahamas and further 

 southward. But this may be due to the much greater difficulty in 

 making collections on the outer reefs of Florida, as compared with 

 those of the Bahamas. Still the list of Florida reef-corals published 

 by Pourtales (Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., ii) includes nearly all the 

 important West Indian species, though some that are abundant else- 

 Avhere seem to be rare on the Florida Reefs. Among the larger 

 Bahama species, not yet known from Florida, are Dendrogyra 

 cylindrus, Stephanocoenia intersepta, Solenastrma hyades, Plesias- 

 trcea Goodei, Mussa rigida, Agaricia crassa. But it is probable 

 that all these will eventually be discovered there. 



The lists of species known from Colon and Cumana are probably 

 very imperfect, as they represent only a small amount of collecting, 

 but they include most of the ordinary West Indian reef-corals. 



At Curacoa the coral fauna is known to be essentially the same as 

 in the Bahamas. The same is true of St. Thomas and Guadaloupe. 



The West Indian coral fauna is, however, totally distinct from 

 that of Panama and the Indo-Pacific region. Not a single species 

 is positively known to be common to the West Indies and either of 

 those regions.* 



With the coral fauna of Brazil thei'e is a direct relationship. 

 Apparently a few of the species are also closely related to, and per- 

 haps identical with, those of the eastern Atlantic* 



* Quelcli (Voy. Challenger, xvi, pp. 91, 99) records Manicina areolata from 

 10-20 fatli., off Cape of Good Hope, and Favia fragum from the Azores, on the 

 shores. He also records (pp. 181, 182) from the Cape Verde Islands, two of the 

 nominal West Indian fonns of Poritcs described by Duch. & Mich., biit the lat- 

 ter are absolutely indeterminable without comparison of the types. His species 

 may be quite different. 



