88 - MADREPOEAEIA, 



Corallum very broad cespitose (corymbose ?), slightly convex ; branches horizontal^ coa- 

 lescing into a flattened lamina nearly entire, naked below, and interrupted by an occasional 

 break; above branchlets spiciform, 8 to 12 mm. thick, and 5 to6"3 cm. long, often proliferous 

 and irregular. Axial corallites 2 to 3 mm. broad and little prominent. Radial corallites 

 tubiform appressed, very unequal, often 4 mm. long, and 1'5 mm. broad, stout, with an ob- 

 tuse lip, exterior finely striate, smooth ; aperture scarcely elliptical ; star quite distinct. 

 (Dana.) 



Unfortunately it does not at present appear clear which specimens in the Berlin Museum 

 were referred by Studer to M. secale. Those which are now labelled M. secale, but not in 

 Studer's handwriting, do not all belong to our species, and none of them appear to me 

 to agree with Dana's description of M. plantaginea, which, in the absence of a diagnosis by 

 Studer, must be held as the diagnosis of M. secale. 



The specimens which I have referred to this species have the following characters : — 

 Corallum corymbose, up to 48 cm. wide and 12 cm. high, not pedicellate. Main branches 

 horizontal or oblique, more or less confluent, but scarcely fused into a plate. Under surface 

 provided with short, blunt, oblique twigs, covered with verruciform and immersed corallites. 

 Branches on the upper surface erect, 5 to 75 cm. long, and 8 to 12 mm. thick, simple or 

 divided, usually proliferous, apices about 2 cm. apart. Axial corallites 2'5 to 3 mm. diameter, 

 subcylindrical, 1 to 4 mm. exsert, aperture variable in size, sometimes 1'5 mm. Radial coral- 

 lites appressed, crowded, and very unequal, not usually compressed, chiefly rostrate, dimidiate 

 or rostrate, or tubo-nariform ; wall usually thickened, outer part often convex ; those below 

 are hemicotyloid and finally immersed j diameter 1"5 to 2"5 mm., length 3 to 6 mm. The 

 star consists of 6 well-developed septa, of which the directives are very broad. Corallum 

 dense ; surface reticulate ; wall not striate, clothed with fine, simple echinulations. In two of 

 the specimens, numerous examples of Pecten madreporarum, Petit, occur near the base of the 

 branchlets, and a special plate of coral is secreted around each valve of the shell. The radial 

 corallites are always appressed, but the outer part of the wall is more elongate in some speci- 

 mens than in others. The species has a similar habit to M. concinna, but differs in the 

 angle of the corallites, and the less complete inner part of the wall. The form of the coral- 

 lites in Dana's specimens is not given clearly. A specimen in the Berlin Museum laljelled 

 M, gecale does not agree so well with Dana's description as those described above, but 

 may be one of the specimens studied by Studer. I have described it as new under the name 

 M, alliomorpha. 



ludo-Pacific Ocean : Ceylon, East Indies, Singapore, China. 



a ? Purchased. 44. 6. 10. 2. 



b. ? ? 93. 4. 7. 105. 



c. ? Purchased. 41. 1. 13. 16. 



? d. Singapore. Purchased. 78. 6. 6. 4. 



?e. China (probably S.). Fisheries Exhib. 84. 2. 26. 21. 



?/,^. Ceylon. Haeckel Coll. 92. 12. 5. 20 & 28. 



h. Tizard Bank. H.M.S. ' Rambler.' 89. 9. 24. 103. { = M. globiceps, B.-Sm.) 



i. Tizard Bank. H.M.S. 'Rambler.' 89. 9. 24. 108. {=M. acervata, B.-Sm.) 



