558 ZOOPHYTES. 



ricately branched, two inches thick below, and irregularly tapering 

 to an apex of one-sixth of an inch ; the cells and the septa are both of 

 a very dark brown colour. 



j8. mucronata. (Plate 54, fig. 2.) The variety (?) thus designated, 

 is from the Sooloo Sea. The clump is five inches or so across, of a 

 very deep brown colour, and is divaricately branched, with stout 

 tapering branches and branchlets, mostly terete, and below often com- 

 pressed. The branchlets are about half an inch in diameter at base, 

 and one to one and a half inches long, and are often coalescent. The 

 cells are scarcely excavate, and there are about seven or seven and a 

 half to half an inch ; the septa are granulous and nearly half as broad 

 as the cells. The six points around the centre of a cell are small but 

 distinct, with the interstices large and deep, the deep shades of which 

 set off the points and give a darker colour to the cell than is presented 

 by the general surface of the corallum. 



Madrepora porites, Esper, i. 133, tab. 21 A. A passable figure of some specimens. 



9. PORITES PALMATA. (Dana.) 



P. cespitosa, 3-4" animata ; ramis late flabellatis, interdum 2" latis et 

 4" crassis, et apice breviter lobatis out digitalis, inferne scepe coaKtis, 

 lobis compressis, \-\" longis, obtusis, raro elongatis et teretibus. Co- 

 rallum subfragile ; cettis superfaialibus aut vix excavatis, parvulis 

 (i"')> septis ramorum apice acutis. 



Cespitose, alive for 3 or 4 inches ; branches broad flabellate, some- 

 times 2 inches broad, \ thick, and short-lobed or digitate at apex ; 

 below often coalescing, lobes compressed, to 1 inch long, obtuse, 

 occasionally elongate and terete. Corallum somewhat fragile ; cells 

 superficial or slightly excavate, small (half a line) ; septa about the 

 upper parts of the branches acute. 



Plate 54, fig. 3, corallum, natural size; 3 a, cells, enlarged. 



Sooloo Sea, East Indies. Exp. Exp. 



Occurs in large clumps much crowded and anastomosing below. 

 Only a dead specimen was obtained, and this was partly covered with 

 the variety mucronata of the nigrescens, from the same locality. 



