ALCYONARIA. 3G5 



and approaching the forms of this which are found in Acabaria 

 japonica and austral is. 



JJab. Port Molle, Queensland, 12-20 fms. ; bottom consisting of 

 rock and coral. Port Darwin, 8-12 fms. ; bottom sand, mud, and 

 shells. Also East Australia, 42 fms. (coll. F. M.Rayner in Mas. Brit.). 



Obs. This is the most delicate of all known Melithseidae. From 

 their extreme fragility, the specimens, which are all dry, are all 

 imperfect ; the longest piece is 40 millim. high ; but probably none 

 of the specimens exceeded GO millim. in height and greatest width 

 respectively. Perhaps half a dozen original specimens are represented. 

 It is remarkable that the length of the internodes and the size 

 of the large cortical spicule vary inversely to the stoutness of the 

 internodes. 



TUBIPORID2E. 



38. Tubipora hemprichi. 

 Ehrenberg, Cor. roth. Meer. p. 55. 



A single dry mass. 



Hab. North-east coast of Australia. 



Obs. Klunzinger identifies a species from near Timor as T. rubeola, 

 Quoy and Gaimard, and it does not appear that he met with this 

 species on the coast of Australia. T. rubeola, however, resembles 

 T. hemprichi considerably in the rather widely separated tubes and 

 the length of tube between the horizontal (external) diaphragms ; but 

 in the latter point it exceeds T. hemprichi, and must be regarded as 

 quite distinct from it, owing to the red colour assigned to its polypes, 

 those of T. hemprichi being grey. 



