442 Dr. J. E. Gray on new Genera and Species of 



Lemnalia. 



Coral soft, fleshy, formed of numerous clustered, small, 

 cylindrical tubes ; the outer surface is smooth, destitute of any 

 appearance of spicules, but showing by grooves the places of 

 union of the different tubes that form the mass, each tube 

 ending in a polype. The base is broad, expanded horizon- 

 tally, fleshy like the coral, throwing up several stems, which 

 are irregularly branched, the lateral branches being somewhat 

 two-rowed, the terminal branchlets rather clustered, each 

 branchlet ending in a short cylindrical polype, the mouth and 

 tentacles of which are completely retractile, only leaving a 

 central knob surrounded by eight slightly depressed radiating 

 grooves, and entirely destitute of any appearance of superficial 

 spicules. The whole coral is flaccid, and the larger branches 

 appear to be more or less compressed ; but this may in great 

 part depend on the state of the specimen. 



Lemnalia Jukesii. Fig. 1. 



Hah. ? (J. Jukes, Esq.) 



Ammothea thrysoides^ Hempr. & Ehrenb. (Ehrenb. Corall. 

 r. M. 59), from the Red Sea, may be another species of this 

 genus. 



Prof. Ehrenberg, in his ^ Corals of the Red Sea,' separates 

 the genus Ammothea from Nejohthyaj because the former is 

 said not to have, and the latter to have, fusiform spicules on 

 the polype. The types are A. virescens and Nephthya Chabroliiy 

 Audouin, both from Savigny's beautiful figures in the great 

 work on Egypt, t.2. f.5 &6; but, if the figures are examined, it 

 will be found that Savigny represents the polype-cells of both 

 species as covered externally with fusiform spicules, the spi- 

 cules in Ammotheah^mg only smaller than those of Nephthya: 

 Prof. Ehrenberg says that he has examined many specimens 



