THOMSON AND MACKINNON— STOLON IPEEA, ETC. 195 



64. Stereaeanthia armata, Thomson and Simpson. 

 Per description see : — 



Thomson and Simpson : Alcyonarians of the Indian Ocean, part ii. (1909) p. 141. 



While referring a small specimen and some fragments of a Stereaeanthia to the 

 species *S'. armata, we think it well to mention that in this case the colour is a deep 

 stone-grey instead of light brown, as in the type-species. Eurthermore, the spicules are 

 considerably larger, many of them being from 4-5 mm. long, and the " Stiitzbundel " 

 arrangement is more pronounced. 



Locality. Salomon, 60-120 fms. 



Previously recorded from the Andamans. 



65. Stereaeanthia elongata, sp. n. (Plate 13. fig. 5; Plate 14. fig. 9.) 



Several small and puzzling specimens, the largest barely 2 cm. in height, seem to be 

 referable to the genus Stereaeanthia, Thomson and Henderson. They difi'er from the 

 species described hitherto in the structure of the anthocodia and the length of the 

 polyp-stalk. 



The polyp and its stalk have together a length of 3-3-5 mm. The slender stalk 

 passes gradually into the club-shaped polyp-head, with which it generally makes an 

 obtuse angle. The polyp-armature consists, typically, of eight " points," each formed 

 of 4-6 close-set pairs of very steeply-converging spindles ; the spicules of a pair may 

 be closely apposed through the greater part of their length. The spaces between tlie 

 " points " are filled with smaller spindles. In the smaller polyps there is more irregu- 

 larity in the number and arrangement of the spicules, but nowhere is there any hint of 

 a horizontal band below the " points." In the tentacles there is a double row of very 

 small spindles " en chevron." 



The polyp-spicules pass over below into the polyp-stalk, Avhere they keep a general 

 longitudinal direction. They tend to be much more strongly developed on the dorsal 

 side of the stalk, so as to form a ridge, almost amounting in certain cases to a 

 " Stutzbundel" (1-24 X -085, 1-19 X "104, 1-02 X 085 mm.). 



The spicules of the cortex are smaller, but of the same general type, i. e. curved and 

 straight spindles with numerous high projecting warts often minutely tuberculate. 

 The following measurements were taken of length and breadth in millimetres: — 

 •68 X -062, -459 X -051, -289 X '034. 



The colour of the colony is yellowish-brown. 



It must be admitted that this specimen is a very difficult one to place. In its spicules 

 it agrees with other species referred to the genus Stereaeanthia, but the armature of the 

 anthocodia has no transverse ring below the points. The state of the canal-walls could 

 not be made out from the fragments. There is some resemblance in the spicules 

 between our specimen and Kiikenthal's Eunephthya spiculosa (Japanische Alcyonaceen, 

 Abh. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. ii. Klasse, Suppl. Bd. i. Abt. 1906, p. 67), but the latter is 

 admittedly a very aberrant species of the genus, and should perhaps be referred to 

 Stereaeanthia. 



Locality. Providence, 70 fms. 



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