Mr. P. H. Gosse on a neiv living British Madrepore. 349 



transverse as in it, some of them running longitudinally or ob- 

 liquely, so as in parts to form faint wide-meshed reticulations; the 

 dorsal line is rather deeper, and reaches to the anterioi margin. 

 Scutellum polished. Elytra nearly three times the length of the 

 thorax ; very delicately aciculated, though scarcely so finely as 

 in 0. Clarkii ; finely punctate-striate ; the interstices without the 

 transverse scratches which occur in O. ClarJdi ; with scarcely a 

 single faint punctui'e, except on the interstice between the fifth 

 and sixth stride; the interstices somewhat convex, especially to- 

 wards the sides, where the striae are deepest ; the space between 

 the sixth and seventh striae narrowest, and nearly as in O. Clarkii, 

 but almost without any widening at the base. Below feiTU- 

 gineo-piceous ; some faint scratches on the episterua, but nothing 

 like the deep oblique wrinkles on the metathoracie episternum 

 in O. Clarkii ; abdomen nearly as in it. Legs ferrugineo-piceous ; 

 thighs rather paler. 



This species comes near Dejean's description of 0. brevithorax ; 

 but the latter is described as having the interstices on the elytra 

 all punctate, which is certainly not the case here. 



XXXVI. — On Phvllangia, a new living British Madrepore. 

 By Philip H. Gosse, P.R.S. 



To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 



Gentlemen, 



With much pleasure I announce the discovery of an interesting 

 living Madrepore, new to the European seas, if not new to 

 science. 



About six weeks ago, Mr. G. H. King, of this towTi, dredging 

 in Weymouth Bay, brought up a piece of the bottom, about a 

 foot square, evidently the edge of one of the oolite ledges, torn 

 oflf by the dredge. On this were from fifty to a hundred spe- 

 cimens of a little Madrepore, which was considered to be our 

 common Cyathina Smithii. The group was broken up and dis- 

 persed ; but a fragment having fallen under my notice, I imme- 

 diately saw in it characters which distinguished it from Cyathina. 



It proves to be of the genus Phyllangia of Milne-Edwards 

 (Hist. Nat. des Corallaires), and agrees in the most minute par- 

 ticulars (with one or two slight exceptions) with the P. americana 

 of the same author. 



The exceptions are — 1st. That whereas P. americana is de- 

 scribed and figured as reaching half an inch in diameter, none 

 of the specimens procured at Weymouth attained (as I was told) 

 quite half those dimensions, those which fell under my own 

 notice not exceeding one-sixth of an inch. 2ndly. That whereas 



Ann. i^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. TV. ii. 24 



