I90 



PAPERS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF MARINE BIOLOGY. 



Von Marenzcller, in his work on the Pola expedition corals, has pubhshed 

 valuable critical notes on Porites solida (Forsk.),' but unfortunately does not figure 

 the type. Gravier in his "Les recifs de coraux et les madreporaires de la baie de 

 Tadjourah"^ describes as new Porites somaliensis, with which I am identifying a 

 species collected in Cocos-Keeling Islands by Dr. Wood Jones. 



The foregoing brief statement indicates that systematic knowledge of the 

 species of Porites and their geographic distribution is gradually increasing. 



There is a large quantity of unstudied material in the U. S. National Museum, 

 including especially the collection made on the Albatross expedition to the tropical 

 Pacific in 1899-1900 and very large collections from the Philippine Islands. I hope 

 I may be able to describe these collections. By working over large collections in 

 conjunction with a study of Bernard's "Catalogue," I believe it possible to make 

 valuable use of his work. 



Dana's types and original specimens of Indo-Pacific species of Porites 

 in the U. S. National Museum. 



Name. 



U. S. Nat. 

 Mus. No. 



Described 



Bull ^9, 



U. S. Nat. 



Mus. 



In present 

 paper. 



Not re- 

 described. 



P. compressa Dana 



cribripora Dana? 



cylindrlca Dana 



favosa Dana 



fragosa Dana 



lichen Dana 



limosa Dana 



lobata Dana 



conglomerata Dana 



mordax Dana 



mordax var. elongata Dana 



mucronata Dana 



nigrescens Dana 



palmata Dana 



rcticulosa Dana 



(Synaraea) contigua Dana = dam 



Verrill 



(S.) erosa Dana 



(S.) monticulosa Dana 



711 

 670 

 708 

 672 



643 

 666 



673 

 652 

 683 

 710 

 707 

 689 

 691 

 689 

 665 



684 

 668 

 664 



X 



X 

 X 



X 



(c) 



X 

 X 

 X 



(A) 



X 



X 

 X 



X 

 X 

 X 



a Under P. lobata. 



b As P. lulea M. Ed. 



c As var. of P. compressa. 



Key to species of Porites described in this paper. 



^ Corallum massive, rounded or lobulate. 



Without pronounced horizontal thickening of skeletal elements. 

 Inner ends of members of triplet free, without trident formation. 

 Pali smaller than the septal denticles, or only slightly larger. 



Wall thin, calices, 1.5 to 2.5 mm. in diameter, rather deep, inner ring of plate-like denticles, 



pali weakly developed i. P. solida (Forsk). 



Wall rather thick, rough, often trimurate; calices usually 1.5 in diameter, excavated, septal 

 denticles thicker and rougher than in I; pali, formula complete, less prominent or only 



slightly more prominent than the septal denticles 2. P. lobata (Dana). 



Wall thick, rough: calices deep, funnel-shaped, i to 1.5 mm. in diameter, septa rather thick; 



pali poorly developed except near edge of the corallum 3. P. murrayensis new species. 



Pah before the directive septa and laterals of the triplet smaller than the septal denticles, those 

 before the lateral pairs often more prominent. 



'Denksch. k. k. Akad. Wien., vol. 80, p. 65, 1906. 



'Ann. Inst. Oceanograph., vol. 2, fasc. 3, p. 80, plate 1 1, figures 46-48, 191 1. 



