CORALS FROM SOL'TH AFRICA. 885 



I am .able to confirm Hickson's statement regai-ding the absence 

 of spicules in this genus. My specimens are larger than that 

 described by Hickson,, and the polyps in his form are also smaller. 

 My specimens, however, agree well with his descriptionw 



Hickson gave the following diagnosis of the genus Malaco- 

 g org la ' — 



" Colony slightly branched. Axis horny with no trace of lime. 

 No spicules in any part of the colony. Polyps arranged bilaterally 

 in the platte of branching at the basal two-thirds of the secondary 

 branches and on all sides of the terminal one-third of the 

 secondary branches. 



" Malacog^rgia capensis, with the eharactens of the genus. 

 Colour in spirit, white." 



Hickson placed this form in a new family, the Malacogorgiida?. 

 He gave the characters of the new family as follows : — " Colony 

 branched and upright. Axis slender, horny. Spicules and all 

 other forms of calcareovis skeleton absent." 



Localities, ^tc, P.F. 18729. Bil'd Island (near Cape Seal), 

 E. by N. i N. 5 miles. By large traw-l. Depth, 40 fathoms. 

 Nature of bottom, mud. Date, August 29, 1905. 



P.F. 703. Lat. 33° 53' 15" S., Long. 25° 51' 45" E. By large 

 trawl. Depth, 26 fathoms. Nature of bottom., mud. 



Family PriMnoid^u 



Stachyodes gilcheisti, sp, n. (PI. XLIV, %. 1 ; Pl. XLY. 

 figs. 2 a & 6.) 



The specimens are not complete. The branching is in one plane, 

 but is neither dichotomous nor regular. The polyps are arranged 

 in verticils which- are separated from one another by an interval 

 of about a millimetre, but the degree of sepai'ation varies con- 

 siderably at difierent parts of the colony. There are on an average 

 five verticils to every ten millimetres. The length of a large 

 verticil is about 3 mm, on the ad-axial and 2^5 mm. on the ab- 

 axial side. The verticils are about 5' 5 mm, in diameter* 



The axis, which is brown on the lower part of the colony and 

 yellow nearer the apex, is covered by scleiites which vary con- 

 siderably in size and shape.. These sclerites covering the horny 

 axis are thin and fairly transparent. The diameter of the axis 

 is about '36 mm. 



In each verticil thei'e are usually five polyps. The polyps are 

 protected by three pairs of sclerites, namely an ad-axial pair, 

 a median pair, and an ab-axial pair.. The ad-axial pair consists of 

 long sclerites which are prodviced outwards in a lateral direction, 

 the median pair are smaller. The ad-axial and median spicules 

 have sharp, rather angular margins, and when the latter are 

 viewed from the side, they appear like spines. The ab-axial pair 

 of sclerites have slightly ribbed or dentate margins. The ad-axial 

 sclerites of the two lateral polyps form a ring or tunnel embracing 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1911, No. LXI. 61 



