144 PEECT SLADEN TRUST EXPEDITlOlSr. 



Family Muriccidaj. 



Genus ACANTHOGORGIA. 



8. Acanthogorgia asijera, Pourtales. (Plate 9. figs. 4 & 5.) 



For description see : — 

 Pourtales, L. Y. de : Contributions to the Fauna of the Gulf Stream at great Depths. Bull Mus. 

 Comp. Zool. Harvard, No. 6, 1867, p. 113. 



Several colonies, white or grey in colour, seem to be referable to this somewhat vaguely 

 described species. The largest colony is 9 cm. in height by 5 cm. in breadth. The 

 specimens are intermediate between the typical A. aspera and the form referred by 

 Hedlund (1890) to A. aspera. They resemble the former in having many projecting 

 spicule-points on the surface of the coenenchyma and verrucse. They resemble the 

 latter, however, in the details of their spiculation, in the size, shape, and irregular dis- 

 tribution of the verrucse, and in the crowding of the vcrruciB at the ends of the 

 branches. 



Localities, (ci) Saya de Malha (C 4), 125 fms. ; [b) Seychelles (F 8), 34 fms. ; 

 [c) Providence, (D 4) 50-78 fms. and (D 7) 70 fms. 



Previously recorded from Havana, 494 metres {Fourtales, 1867) ; Amoy, 35 fms. 

 {Sedlund, 1890) ; South of Pico, Azores, 927 metres {Studer, 1901) ; Indian Ocean, 

 6° 31' N., 79" 38' 45" E., 401 fms. {Thomson and Henderson, 1906). 



9. Acanthogorgia ceylonensis, Thomson and Henderson, • 



For description see : — 

 Thomson and Henderson : Ceylon Pearl Oyster Report, No. xx. 1905, p. 209, pi. 4. fig. G, pi. 5. 

 fig. 12. 



A colony from Providence bears a marked resemblance in habit of gi'owth and in 

 spiculation to A. ceylonensis, Thomson and Henderson. It is, however, somewhat larger, 

 95 mm. in height by 35 mm. in breadth, whereas the typical A. ceylonensis was 55 mm. 

 by 30 mm. The verrucse are about 1 mm. in height, as against the O'6-O 7 mm. of 

 the type. 



Locality. Providence (D 3), 29 fms. 



Previously recorded from Trincomalee ( Thomson and Henderson, 1905). 



10. Acanthogorgia inermis, Hedlund. 



For description see : — 



Hedlund : Bihaug K. Svenslva Vet.-Alcad. Handl. xvi. 1890, pp. 6-8, pi. 2. figs. 1-27. 

 A large colony, 20 cm. in height by 25 cm. in width, profusely branched in one plane, 

 and exhibiting frequent anastomosis, resembles very closely A. inermis. Hedlund. It 



