194 MR. J. Y. JOHNSON ON NEW MADEIRAN CORALS. [June 24, 



ventral fin. Teeth very small, subhorizontal, in a single series. 

 Cleft of the mouth obhque, rather wide, the maxillary extending to 

 behind the eye ; lower jaw prominent ; eye very small. Ventral 

 fins confluent ; caudal arrow-shaped, nearly one-fifth of the total. 

 Pectoral as long as the ventral, and half as long as the head. Upper 

 parts grey, lateral and lower silvery ; an ovate grey spot before each 

 dorsal ray ; caudal grey. 



Four specimens of this fish have been procured for the British 

 Museum. The largest of them is 9^ inches long. 



This is the most aberrant form of the genus Amblyopus ; although 

 closely allied to A. broussonetii, it differs in its more feeble dentition 

 and in its larger scales. A. broufisonetii has 11/16 vertebrse, A. sa- 

 gitta 1 1/20. If the genus Gobioides of Lacepede be adopted, another 

 must be created for A. sagitta, and the sections may be arranged as 

 follows : — 



Amblyopus, Gthr. 



A. Teeth in a band, with an outer series of stronger ones. 



* More than twenty -five soft dorsal rays : Amblyopus, C. & V. 



East Indies. 



* Less than twenty soft dorsal rays : Gobioides, Lacep. Peru 



and Guayaquil. 



B. Teeth in a single series : Tyntlastes. California. 



3. Descriptions of some New Corals from Madeira. 

 By James Yate Johnson, Cor. Mem. Z.S. 



Fam. AcanthogorgiadjE, J. E. Gray. 



ACANTHOGORGIA ATLANTICA, Sp. U. 



Since the occurrence of a specimen of Acaathogorgia grayi, of 

 which I laid a description before the Society last year (Proc. Z. S. 

 1861, p. 296), another form of the genus has been discovered. This 

 was brought up' from deep water at Madeira, having become entangled 

 in a fisherman's line. As there are obvious distinctions from the 

 two other species of this genus, I shall venture to describe it as new. 



It is of a dark-brown colour, and is very sparingly branched in 

 one plane. The base spreads out in thin branching sheets amongst 

 small shells and fragments of stone which adhere to it. The stem, 

 and branches, with their closely packed cells, are cylindrical, the 

 former not much thicker than the latter. The branches are rounded 

 at their extremities. The cells are short, cylindrical, sessile, and so 

 crowded on all sides of the stem that they conceal it from view ; 

 whilst in the two other species of this genus the cells are widely 

 separated, and the bark is seen between them. When the polypi- 

 dom is dry, a brown, slender, horny axis, without spinulse, stands 

 distinct from the bark, as in the other species. This axis, when soft- 

 ened and submitted under pressure to the microscope, is seen to 



