142 PAPERS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF MARINE BIOLOGY. 



Eight to ten septa reach the columella; about half of these bifurcate or trifurcate nearer 

 the periphery of the calicc. The outer ends are thicker than the inner ends. The inter- 

 septal loculi are distinct, about equal in width to the thickness of the septa. Usually two 

 circles of septal denticles, the outer taller, wider, and thicker; on some septa a third denticle 

 may be present. The denticles are radially compressed (not tangentially compressed as in 

 P. verrilli Vaughan). Their sides minutely granulate. The outer septal ends continuous 

 with the coenenchyma. 



The ccenenchyma is composed of radial elements connecting with the septa and con- 

 centric synapticulne. The interspaces in the reticulum are distinct; but in sections parallel 

 to the flat surfaces the radial structures are fairly compact. The roughness of the surface 

 has been described. 



The columellar tangle is variable in development; it is lax or fairly compact, composed 

 of the fused inner ends of the long septa and a more or less complete ring of synapticulae. 

 Usually there is a distinct small, compressed, granulate columellar tubercle. 



Habitat and color. — ^Dr. F. Wood Jones states: "Grows upon the sand flats; 

 not common. Purple while living." 



Although these specimens do not accord with any of the species known to me, 



it seems hazardous to propose a name, as the colonies appear immature. They 



suggest the early stages of a branching form, and may belong to P. obtusangula 



(Lamarck). They are not P. frondosa Verrill, P. gonagra Klunzinger, or P. 



contigua (Esper); nor are they P. verrilli Vaughan, an incrusting form found in 



the Hawaiian Islands. The latter may ultimately prove to be a young stage of 



P. contigua, as the calicular and coenenchymal characters of the two are essentially 



the same. 



Psammocora profundacella Gardiner. 



Plate 59, figures 4, 43, specimen from Fanning Island. 



1898. Psammocora profundacella Gardiner, Proc. Zool. Soc. London for 1898, p. 537, plate 45, fig. 3. 



Mr. Elschner collected at Fanning Island a subspheroidal specimen 72 to 74 

 mm. in diameter and 50 mm. thick. Living polyps had covered all the surface, 

 and when collected they were dead over an area on the lower surface only 36 mm. 

 in diameter. As Gardiner's description is so good, a new one seems unnecessary, 

 but two figures are given, plate 59, figures 4, \a. 



Distribution. — Funafuti (Gardiner); Fanning Island (Elschner). 



GENUS NOT REFERRED TO A FAMILY. 

 Genus DIPLOASTREA Matthai. 

 1914. Diploaitrca Matthai, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, ser. 2, Zool., vol. 17, p. 72. 



Type species: Astrea heliopora Lamarck. 



This a fungid coral, as it possesses well-developed synapticulae and there are 

 large, irregularly distributed perforations m the septa. The septo-costae are either 

 confluent, but notched at the coralUte boundaries, or their outer ends alternate in 

 position. There is no definite intercoralhte wall, it being represented by a discon- 

 tinuous series of peripherally placed synapticulae. Matthai's figures show both the 

 synapticulae and the perforate septa. Ultimately Diploastrea may become a syno- 

 nvm of Cyathomorpha Reuss. 



Diploastrea is one of the most important genera of Oligocene corals in the 

 southeastern United States and in the West Indies. Jstrcea crassolamellata Dun- 

 can,' from Antigua, belongs to it. It is also found in the lowest horizon at Crocus 

 Bay, Anguilla; in Cuba at numerous localities; along Flint River near Bainbridge, 

 Georgia; and in eastern Mexico. 



'Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, vol. 19, p. 412, plate 13, figs. 1-7, 1863. 



