1905.] CAPE VERDE MARINE FAUNA, 177 



sicilieiisis (which is, however, well-known to be cosmopolitan), and 

 Thcdassema haronii. Species already recognised as belonging to 

 the North Atlantic and Mediterannean are as follows : — 



PoLYCH^TA : Eunice torquata Qfg. { = E. fasciata Risso *), 

 E. siciliensis Gr., iStmtrocephcdus ruhrovittaUts, Hesione 

 sicula, Nereis dtwiei^ilii, and Phyllodoce jtancerina Clp. 



Nemertines : Nemertes neesii. 



Of the Opisthobranch Mollusca, Sir Charles Eliot gives the 

 following provisional identifications : — 



Lophocercus olivacea. Mediterranean. 



C'andiella lineata. British. 

 Favorhhus carneus. ,, 



Philine aperta. „ 



He also remarks that " there are no big Dorids (or, rather, 

 only one) and only one Chromodoris ; the common Indo-Pacific 

 forms, Hexabranchus. Astei'onotus, Bornella, Phyllidia, Dolabella, 

 are all absent." 



Indeed, for the present, the difference is most stiikingly shown 

 by the absence from the Cape Yerde fauna of groups conspicuously 

 abundant in East Africa. Planarians, such as the highly- coloui-ed 

 Pseudoceridfe, so abundant in species and in individuals in 

 the Indo-Paciiic, are here practically absent. Is it merely a 

 coincidence that the family of Opisthobi'anchs which is also 

 characterised by gorgeousness of colouring, the Chromodoridse, 

 are here also represented by but one species ? 



At low spring- tide level, almost every whei'e in East Afiica, 

 Alcyonarians, especially Xeniidfe and Clavulariidifi, are astonish- 

 ingly abundant, in places literally carpeting the rocks. Lobophz/tum, 

 Sarcop)hytum, Ttdtipora, ifec. may be equally abundant over certain 

 areas, while in Wasin Harbour Telesto and other tree-like genera 

 filled the dredge at every haul. Similarly for the Corals. Large 

 areas of East-African coasts are totally devoid of coral- growths, 

 but in other parts the quantity and the number of species found 

 between the levels of low spring-tides and five to fifteen fathoms 

 are indescribable. 



Here, in the Cape Yerdes, the littoral Alcyonai'ia are repre- 

 sented by but one fairly common species, a Cornulai-ian, which is 

 found under stones. A few species of Gorgonians are found, but 

 rarely, in watei- of over 18 fathoms in depth. 



Of the five littoial species of Coral belonging to the genera 

 Siderastrcea and Pontis, two form incrustations only, and the 

 colonies do not exceed six or eight inches in diameter. The 

 largest mass met with was about nine inches thick, and covered 

 an area of two or three square feet. Contrast the Porites cylin- 

 ders of the Zanzibar reefs or the composite masses covering 



* Ehlevs (Nacli. zu Gott. 1900) describes JS. fasciata from a small collection 

 from East Africa, but it does not occur in my own or in Stftnlej' Gardiner's from the 

 Maldives. 



12* 



