CORALS FROM THE PERSIAN GULF. 1037 



finely granular, the lower orders are perforate. Calicular fossa 

 very deep. Columella fascicular, parietal ; well developed in oldei' 

 individuals. 



Locality. From Cable 60 miles S.W. of Bushire, Persian Gulf, 

 Depth 30 fms. 



With only a single specimen of a coral such as this, which 

 exhibits such a wide range of variability, the creation of 

 a new species has not seemed to me justifiable. I have, therefore, 

 merely noted its characters and appended a photograph of the 

 specimen, until such time as it maj^ be found in greater numbers. 



Note on Miss Harrison's memoir on some Madreporaria from 

 the Persian Gulf, and some further notes on Pyrojphyllia 

 inflata. By Sydney J, Hickson, M.i^., F.R.S., F.Z.S, 



The manuscript of Miss Harrisons paper was sent to me shortly 

 before she left this country for India, with a request that I wovild 

 read it and revise it for publication. The number of species in 

 the collection is small and there is only one that is new to science, 

 but there are several points in the paper which it seemed to me 

 required rather fuller consideration than she has given to them, 

 and I have ventured therefore to write an addendum, leaving her 

 original memoir intact. Had she remained in England I would 

 have suggested the inclusion of these remarks in her paper, but 

 under the circumstances, I think it is better to publish them 

 under a separate title and thereby take the whole responsibility 

 for them. I have rearranged the order of the species, furnished 

 the list on p. 1019, and added the family names, but in other 

 respects the paper is as it left her hands. 



At the present time our knowledge of the fauna of the Persian 

 Gulf is very limited. None of the great deep-sea exploring 

 expeditions have visited it, and independent investigators with 

 sufficient knowledge and energy in this region have been few and 

 far between. 



Mr. F. W. Townsend, of the telegraph staff" of the Indian 

 Government, has made a large and valuable collection of shells, 

 and these have been described in a series of papers by Cosmo 

 Melvill and Standen,* but so far as I can discover, very few 

 genera and species belonging to other groups of marine animals 

 have been recorded. The richness and interest of the Molluscan 

 fauna suggests that many new forms have still to be discovered 

 in the Gulf, but the subject of special importance that the study of 

 this fauna would shed light upon, is the relation of the fauna 

 of the Persian Gulf to that of the Mediterranean Sea. It has 

 frequently been suggested that in the past there was a connexion 

 between the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean by way of the 

 Mediterranean Sea ; and, judging by the present day geographical 

 features, it is probable that the last connexion between them 



* For list of papers see Proc. Zool. Soc. 1906, p. 783. 



