TRIBE III. MADREPORACEA. 559 



10. PORITES LEVIS. (Dana.) 



P. cespitosa, 6" vel plures animata ; ramis elongatis, furcatis, subtere- 

 tibus, vix compressis, irregulariter inftatis; infra, 1-1 J" crassis, 

 apice obtusis et 3-4'" latis ; polypis brevissimis, brunneis, tentaculis 

 minutis, apice albidis. Corallum subrobustum ; cettis omnino super- 

 faialibus, vix conspifuis. 



Cespitose, alive for 6 inches or more; branches long, furcate, sub- 

 terete, scarcely compressed, irregularly inflated, below, 1 1J inches 

 thick, obtuse at apex and 3 to 4 lines broad ; polyps very short, 

 brown; tentacles minute, with whitish tips. Corallum rather firm, 

 surface smooth ; cells wholly superficial, scarcely distinguishable. 



Plate 54, fig, 5, part of zoophyte, natural size ; 5 a, 5 b, polyps, en- 

 larged ; 5 c, surface, enlarged ; 5 d, cross section, ditto. 



Feejee Islands. Exp. Exp. 



The Madrepora porites, of Esper, as figured on his plate 21, is near the above species. 

 It is a branched stem, five inches high, nearly an inch broad below, subcompressed, 

 obtuse, and often bilobate above, with superficial cells, and alive throughout. The 

 stars as figured are more distinct than in the levis ; in the enlarged figure (fig. 2), six 

 points are represented surrounding a central one. 



11. PORITES CYLINDRICA. (Dana.) 



P. cespitosa, 1-2" animata; caulibus erectis creberrimis, sape coalitis, 

 bene cylindricis, inferne -" crassis, apice scepe furcatis, rotundatis, 

 ramulis 1" longis et J" crassis. Corallum subrobustum; cettis omnino 

 super Jicialibus, inconspicuis. 



Cespitose, alive for 1 to 2 inches; branches erect and very much 

 crowded together, often coalescing, neatly cylindrical, below to 

 of an inch thick, often furcate at apex, and rounded ; branchlets 1 

 inch long and of an inch thick. Corallum rather firm; cells 

 wholly superficial, indistinct. 



Plate 54, fig. 4, corallum of part of a clump, natural size. 

 Feejee Islands (?). Exp. Exp. 



