CORALS FROM MURRAY, COCOS-KEELING, AND FANNING ISLANDS. 155 



is incrusting with "free drooping outgrowths." Regarding the last-mentioned spe- 

 cies Bernard says: 



"The coral is peculiar in the irregular distribution and shapes of the papillae, and in the 

 jagged processes which grow out of them by the secondary budding of young calices from 

 their surfaces, accompanied by secondary formation of sharp ridges or papillate points." 



It therefore appears that Bernard did not consider M. elschneri in his work; 

 and it certainly is not in von Marenzeller's report on the Pola Red Sea corals. 



It gives me pleasure to attach to this coral the name of Mr. Elschner, who 

 collected the type and has made important contributions to our knowledge of the 

 geology of several coral-reef areas in the Pacific. 



Montipora sp. 



Plate 64, figures 2, 212, specimen from Cocos-Keeling Islands. 



The following is a description of Montipora sp. from Cocos-Keeling Islands: 



Corallum represented by the terminal of a branch or lobe. Length 25 mm.; basal 

 diameter, 12 by 18.5 mm.; apex, bilobate, obtuse, 27.5 mm. wide; ma.ximum thickness just 

 below summit, 9.5 mm. Calices absent or very irregularly developed on the summit. 



Calices somewhat irregularly distributed, in places tend to form radial series of 3, 4, 

 or 5 calices; in other places to form series of a few calices, 2 or 3, roughly parallel to the 

 growing edge. Calicular walls rarely distinct from the surroundmg coenenchyma. Diam- 

 eter of fully developed calices, 1.25 to 1.5 mm. Diameter of depressions 2 to 2.5 mm. 



Septa, 6 distinct primaries, most of which may fuse in the axis to form a rather small 

 but distinct columella; a few small secondaries, but the cycle is rarely or never complete. 



Ccenenchyma with an axial streaming layer, which forms a frothy reticulum on the 

 branch summits; on sides of the branch the coenenchyma rises up between the calices, pro- 

 ducing either subacute or rounded, crowded ridges, or tends to form low, rounded protuber- 

 ances, especially on the lower sides of the calices. It is delicately spongy, with a minutely 

 spinulose surface; minute striations run down the sides of the depressions to the level of 

 the calicular opening. 



Habitat, Cocos-Keeling Islands. — Dr. Wood Jones states that this species 

 occurs with Montipora cocosensis, in the inlets and on the lagoon side of barrier 

 flats, at the southern side of the lagoon. 



This species has a growth-form similar to that of M. cocosensis, but the distri- 

 bution of the calices, septal characters, and coenenchyma are strikingly different. 

 It belongs to the Papillate Montiporae (papillae in close relation to the calices as 

 hoods, underlips, etc.), whereas the former is one of the Foveolate Montiporae. 



Bernard refers the following 8 species to the subgroup of Montipora to which 

 this species belongs, viz: M. bilaminata Bernard, M. guppyi Bernard, M. tuhijera 

 Bernard, *M. cristagalli (Ehrenberg), *M. gracilis Klunzinger, *M. spongiosa 

 (Ehrenberg), *M. circiimvallata (Ehrenberg) and *M. stalagmites Ortmann. The 

 last 5, marked by an asterisk (*), are lobate, tufted, or branching, all of which except 

 M. stalagmites Ortmann come from the Red Sea. Of these 5 only 2 have large 

 caHces, M. cristagalli (0.5 to i mm.) and M. spongiosa (i mm.); but the calices of 

 both of these are smaller than in the present species and both differ from it in the 

 character of their coenenchyma (see figures by Klunzinger). Notwithstanding the 

 presence of underlips to many calices, Bernard's account of the branching and 

 lobate species of the Foveolate Montiporae was searched to ascertain if he had de- 

 scribed it as a member of that subgroup. The only one to which there appears 

 any possible relation is M. multiformis Bernard, but neither the description nor 

 the figures indicate the presence of underlips to the calices. There is considerable 

 resemblance to M. foveolata (Dana) and M. socialis Bernard, but in both of these. 



