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 574 



ALCYONAKIAN AND MADEEPOKAKIAN COBALS OF 

 THE IEISH COASTS, 



BY 







JANE STEPHENS, B.Sc., 

 National Museum, Dublin, 



with 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF STACHYODES 

 BY PROF. S. J. HICKSON, F.R.S. 



PL I. 



' Some time ago Professor Hickson (1905) published a pre- 

 liminary account of certain Alcyonaria dredged by the Helga 

 off the Irish coast. Since then many additional specimens 

 belonging to this group have been obtained. With the de- 

 scription of these specimens Professor Hickson has very kindly 

 allowed me to incorporate his final account of the first 

 Alcyonarian Collection, which includes one new species, 

 Stachyodes Versluysi, and eleven others, most of which are 

 new to the Irish area. In each case, to avoid confusion, Pro- 

 fessor Hickson 's name is given after the species he has deter- 

 mined. 



The Alcyonaria taken off the west coast of Ireland add to 

 our knowledge of the geographical distribution of deep-sea 

 forms. Professor Hickson (1905) has already drawn attention 

 to the interesting discovery of the Precious Coral, Corallium 

 Johnsoni, off the west coast of Ireland. 



In the account of the deep-sea Alcyonaria recently collected 

 by the Investigator in the Indian Ocean, seven species are 

 given as common to both Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Of 

 these, two are now recorded for the Irish area, namely Funi- 

 culina quadrangular is, which has frequently been taken in the 

 North Atlantic, and Callistephanus Koreni, w r hich up to this 

 has only been. found off Ascension Island and in the Indian 

 Ocean. 



The discovery of Caligorgia flabellum off the Irish coast adds 

 another species to the list of those common to the two oceans. 



As might have been anticipated, a number of species 

 hitherto only taken off the Azores, Madeira, and the Eastern 

 States of North America, are now found to occur in deep water 

 off the west coast of Ireland. 



Fisheries, Ireland, Sci. Invest., 1907, V. [1909]. 



B2 



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