IS Mr. J. J. Quelch on some 



DisHchopora brevtserialis, Quelch. 



D. breviset'ialis is distinguished by its irregularly flabellate 

 ccenosteum, with short, thick, obtuse branches and branchlets, 

 the branches being much compressed at the base, rounded 

 al)Ove, and often coalescent ; by its pale aurora-red or deep 

 flesh-red colour ; by its granulated surface, the small conical 

 granules being much enlarged and more prominent at the 

 distal parts ; by the obliteration of the pore- rows, except at 

 the apical parts of the branches and branchlets and at the 

 parts of the ccenosteum where fresh branchlets originate ; by 

 the rather small unequal gastropores, which are placed in an 

 irregular line at the bottom of a shallow furrow at the apical 

 parts, and which gradually diminish and disappear by over- 

 growth ; by the nearly smooth gastro-canal ; by the small 

 dactylopores, which are placed on the edges of the shallow 

 furrow at the extremities, but which become gradually even 

 with the surface, and finally are obliterated ; and by the 

 ampullae, which are often grouped together, and consist of a 

 raised central portion which is marked on its upper surface 

 with small, more or less radial, rather sharp ridges, and is 

 surrounded by a circle of comparatively large pored openings, 

 which are separated by thick septiform partitions with which 

 the ridges are continuous, passing to neighbouring ampullai 

 or to the surrounding coenenchyma ; in the later stages of 

 these ampullge, when the central portions break away, the 

 group presents the appearance of a rough mass with irregular 

 pores, in which the single central cavities of the ampulla?, are 

 hardly distinguishable from the surrounding openings which 

 lead to them. 



Distichopora gracilis, Dana. 



D. gracilis is distinguished by its regularly flabellate and 

 extremely slender habit ; by its fainter or reddish coloration ; 

 and by its compressed branches ; but a more complete descrip- 

 tion of the type specimen of this little-known species is re- 

 quired, since little or nothing is known as to the nature of its 

 ccenenchyma, its surface, its cyclosystems, and its ampullae. 



Distichopora nitida, Verrill. 



D. nitida is distinguished by its large regularly flabelliform 

 habit ; by its rounded branches, somewhat compressed at the 

 base ; by its rounded obtuse branchlets, expanded at the tips 

 during division ; by its extremely variable coloration, ranging 



