CARYOPHYLLIACEA. EUPSAMMIAD^E. 



THE SCARLET AND GOLD STAR-CORAL. 

 Balanophyllia regia. 



Plate X. Figs. 10, 11. 



Specific Character. Corallum sub-conical, circular: epitheca extending 

 to margin : plates in five imperfect cycles. 



Balanophyllia regia. Gosse, Dev. Coast, 399 ; pi. xxvi. figs. 1-^-6. 

 Ibid. Man. Mar. Zool. i. 33 ; fig. 51. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



CORALLUM. 



Corallum. Conico-cylindrical, rising like the trunk of a tree from a base 

 much broader than the column ; height rarely exceeding, often not equal- 

 ling, the diameter. 



Calice. Circular or nearly so : varying much in depth. 



Wall. Rather thick, porous, but scarcely spongy, invested with an 

 epitheca, which in general extends to the margin, but not always, and occa- 

 sionally (as in a specimen in my possession) seems wholly wanting. 



Ribs. Continuous (not formed of separate granules) but very sinuous, 

 and in some parts branching, the branches so confluent as to form a rough 

 network : they are often distinct through the epitheca. 



Columella. Much developed, forming a large spongiose mass (or more 

 like the crumb of well-raised bread), often rising almost to the level of the 

 margin, but more commonly to about half that height. 



Plates. Well developed, thick, here and there perforate, with a frosted 

 surface and minutely toothed edges, not salient, the upper edge sloping 

 downward and inward. The star is six-rayed, and is always distinctly 

 formed, and generally symmetrical. There are five cycles, but some of 

 the fourth and fifth are wanting in each system. The gradation in deve- 

 lopment is pretty regular downward from the first to the fourth ; but the 

 fifth are exceedingly irregular and unequal. The two plates of the fifth 

 cycle in each system, which stand next to the primaries (that is, those of 

 the sixth order*), are developed to an extent much exceeding even the 



* Hist, des Corall. i. 45. 



