PROF. THOMSON AND MR. McQUEEN—REPORT ON THE ALCYONARIANS. 71 
darker red patches where the nodes shine through the semi-transparent 
coenenchyma. The living colonies were pink. 
The calcareous internodes vary from 10 mm. to 17 mm. in length, and are 
about 2 mm. in diameter They are marked longitudinally by sinuous 
furrows which expand at intervals into little round pits. The colour of the 
axis shades from deep rose-red to pink. 
Fig. 4. 
Fig. 3. 
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Clathraria acuta, Gray. 
Fig. 3. Spicules. Fig. 4. Details and ornament on calcareous joints. 
Microscopic examination shows that the axis is composed of numerous 
spindles fused together, with their long axes in line with the long axis of the 
branch. The nodes are dark red, much shorter than the internodes, and 
slightly swollen ; they are composed of a yellowish horny network enclosing 
short red spindles. 
The pinkish-white ccenenchyma is semi-transparent and very delicate. 
The polyps are not nearly so numerous as in C. rubrinodis, but are larger in 
proportion and project from the surface as minute warts. They seem to 
correspond in position to the cup-shaped pits in the axis of the internodes, 
and their arrangement is very markedly spiral. 
The spicules of the coenenchyma are spiny and tuberculate clubs and 
warty double-clubs with a few spindles and boomerangs. They are, on 
the whole, rather smaller than in C. rubrinodis and distinctly less spiny. 
The majority are colourless, but many show a red or pink tinge. 
Locality —Khor Dor.gola, near the group of Islets; rock bottom, 94 fathoms. 
