244 Dr. J. W. Gregory — Egyptian Corals. 



The form varies considerably : the base is concave in a, but 

 convex in h, and flat in c; the shape of a is somewhat reniforra, but 

 h and c have irregular marginal lobes. 



The specimens present remarkable resemblances to F. repanda, 

 Dana/ with which they agree in general form, in the depi'ession 

 round the corallum, half-way between the centre and margin, in 

 the small number and thickness of the septa, and in the proportions 

 of the calicular fossa ; but the under surface is not coarsely papillose, 

 and the septal teeth are not turned backwards (see PI. IX, Fig. 5), 

 though this character may have been destroyed by weathering. 



The resemblance to F. repanda necessitates a comparison of these 

 corals with F. scrtiposa, Klnz.,^ which agrees with these specimens 

 in the prominence of the expanded inner ends of the septa ; but that 

 species, like F. repanda, differs by the characters of the costse, 

 which are coarsely and abundantly dentate. F. valida, Verr.,^ which 

 Klunzinger has figured from the Bed Sea, agrees in its septal 

 characters, but differs by the great inequality of the costae. 



Klunzinger has doubtfully included Verrill's F. Haimei^ as 

 a synonym of his F. patella var. lohulata. But Verrill states that 

 F. Haimei differs from F. discus by having on its nearly equal costee 

 numerous sharp curved spines, instead of irregularly scattered 

 obtuse spines. In this respect the three Egyptian specimens differ 

 from F. Haimei, as they have low, blunt, scattered spines on the 

 costas (PI. IX, Fig. 5). Their general characters, however, agree so 

 closely with those of F. patella that they may be safely included 

 in that species as members of the variety lohulata. 



II. MIOCENE. 



Genus STYLOPHORA, Schweigger, 1819. 



Stylophora asymmetrica, nov. 

 Diagnosis. 



Corallum massive, flat-topped, growing in successive horizontal 

 laminae. The upper surface is ornamented by the long, sharp, 

 well-raised septo-cost^. 



Corallites very large, separated by exothecal areas slightly 

 narrower than the diameter of the corallites. 



Calices rarely deep ; usually small and raised above the general 

 surface of the corallum. The calices rest on the flat-topped 

 columella, and are bounded laterally by the highly raised, exsert 

 septa. 



Septa irregular in development. There are typically six large, 

 thick primary septa fused to the columella, and six short secondary 

 septa, of which the inner margin is free. But this diagrammatic 



1 Dana, " Zooph. Explor. Exped. Wilkes," vol. viii (1848), p. 295, pi. xix, 

 figs. 1-3. 



2 Klunzinger, op. cit., p. 63, pi. vii, fig. 2; pi. viii, fig. 1. 



3 Verrill, " List of Polyps" : Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. i (1864), p. 51. 

 * Verrill, op. cit., p. 51. 



