THE ANNALS 
AND 
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
[FIFTH SERIES.] 
No. 5. MAY 1878. 

XL.—WNotes on the Genus Retepora, with Descriptions of new 
Species. By the Rev. THomas Hincxs, B.A., F.R.S. 
[Plates XVIII. & XIX.] 
THE singular beauty of the Lace-corals has always attracted the 
collector ; but, so far, little has been accomplished towards the 
elucidation of their history. Of the many forms which exist, 
especially in the Southern Ocean, few have been discriminated. 
Even the representatives of the tribe in Northern and British 
waters and in the Mediterranean have been only imperfectly 
investigated; and much remains to be done amongst them. 
The notices of Retepora which we have from the older 
writers are valueless for purposes of identification; and the 
same remark applies to many of the descriptions of more 
modern date. 
The following recent species have been described :— 
From Australia : 
Retepora phcenicea, Busk. 
R. monilifera, Macgilivray. 
R. porcellana, ¢d. 
R. granulata, id. 
R. fissa, ed. 
I believe that the foregoing are all distinct from the forms 
described as new in this paper; but in so difficult a genus it 
is essential that the diagnosis should be much fuller and more 
minute than authors have usually made it, and identification 
is not always sure. 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. i. pi 
