5 2 



3 cm. long. Second horny node 4.5 mm. broad and 4 mm. long. Calcareous internodes 2.1 mm. 

 broad and 4.5 mm. long. The nodes grow proportionally shorter and the internodes longer 

 until on the distal parts of the colony the former are but 2 mm. long and the latter reach a 

 length of 1 6 mm. The stem forks at the 5 th node. The branches are somewhat compressed 

 laterally. The branching is partly dichotomous and partly alternate, all branches springing from 

 the horny joints and anastomosing through the joining of the ultimate twigs. The calyces are 

 on three sides of the colony, except on the distal twigs where they are on all sides. These 

 latter are quite slender, being but little over i mm. in diameter. 



The individual calyces are low domes when the polyps are retracted and truncated 

 cones when they are partly expanded. They are rather regularly spaced, more so on the sides 

 than on the front of the colony. A typical calyx measures .6 mm. in height and i.i mm. in 

 diameter. The calyx walls, as well as the general ccenenchyma, are packed with foliaceous 

 clubs or Blattkeulen which appear when in situ and viewed under a low magnification as 

 rounded bodies or nodules, because they are thus seen "end on", in the calyx walls, the 

 foliaceous ends being directed upward and outward. The polyps are heavily spiculated, with a 

 strong collaret of bent tuberculate spicules. Above these each tentacle base is provided with 

 two spicules whose ends meet at a wide angle forming an upward directed point. The dorsal 

 surfaces of the tentacles are covered with longitudinal tuberculate spindles. 



Spicules. The surface of the ccenenchyma is packed with vertically placed typical 

 Blattkeulen with their foliaceous ends directed outward. These spicules are very characteristic 

 of the genus Wrightella, consisting of a basal, irregular, often much branched and tuberculate 

 portion, and a distal part composed of foliaceous expansions gathered together into a globular 

 "head" resembling the bud of a tulip or rose and forming what appears to be a rounded 

 nodule when the spicules are viewed in situ under low magnification. Other Blattkeulen are 

 seen with wide foliaceous expansions which are flattened and longitudinally shattered or split. 

 These are often seen in the distal parts of the calyx walls. Curved, tuberculate spindles are 

 found in the polyps and tentacles. 



Color. The colony is almost a brick red, or light scarlet. The polyps are yellow and 

 the axis deep crimson. 



General distribution. The type locality seems to be the coast of Mauritius (LLIS 

 and SOLANDER). It has also been reported from the Seychelles, 4 12 fathoms (GRAY); from 

 the Indian Ocean, Farquaar Atoll, Prashu, Seychelles (THOMSON and MACKINNON), and from 

 the Cape of Good Hope (RIDLEY). 



2. ? Wrightella tongaensis Kukenthal. 



Wrightella tongaensis Kukenthal. Die Gorgonidenfamilie der Melitodidas, Zoolog. Anz. Bd. 

 XXXIII, 1908, p. 200. 



Stat. 240. Banda Anchorage. 9 to 45 meters. Black sand, coral. 



Stat. 258. Tual Anchorage, Kei Islands. 22 meters. Lithothamnion, sand and coral. 



Stat. 282. 825'.2S. ( !27i8'.4E. 27 to 54 meters. Sand, coral and Lithothamnion. 



Colony subflabellate, not truly reticulate, although there are occasional anastomoses, 



