GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF THE CANAL ZONE. 455 



As the validity of this genus name is in doubt the following 

 remarks will be made on genera that appear to be either closely 

 related or synonymous. 



Brachyphyllia Reuss: types pedes, B. dormitzeri Reuss. 



In the first of the publications cited in the footnote l below 

 Reuss described and referred the following species to Brachyphyllia: 

 B. depressa, B. dormitzeri, and B. glomerata. In the second paper 2 

 cited Reuss proposed the name Agathiphyllia, referred Brachyphyllia 

 depressa to it, and said ' ' der Typus der Gattung Brachyphyllia bleibt 

 mithin fortan Br. dormitzeri Rss. * * * Sie wird durch die viel 

 kleineren Zellensterne, die dunneren, am obem Rande gleichmassig 

 fein gezahnelten Radiallamellen mid die wenig entwickelte, sehr 

 feinkornige Axe charakterisirt. " 



Agathiphyllia Reuss: type-species, A. explanata Reuss. 



Reuss originally referred three species to Agathiphyllia: 2 A. 

 depressa (Reuss) Reuss (first placed in Brachyphyllia), A. conglobata 

 Reuss, and A. explanata Reuss. In 1868, 3 A. conglobata and one 

 specimen previously referred to A. explanata are combined under A. 

 conglobata, and made the type-species of a new genus, Cyathomorpha, 

 which is separated from Agathiphyllia by possessing a conspicuous 

 palar crown. This procedure left two species, A. depressa (Reuss) 

 and A. explanata Reuss, in Agathiphyllia. Reuss does not actually 

 designate a type-species for Agathiphyllia, but, as he says, "Die 

 Gattung Agathiphyllia diirfte sich daher auf die I.e. 4 , Tab. 2, Fig. 

 8, 9 abgebildete A. explanata beschranken," I take A. explanata as 

 the genotype, excluding the misidentified specimen cf A. conglobata. 



In an endeavor to ascertain the generic characters of Brachyphyllia, 

 of course, B. dormitzeri must be studied. As there is no specimen of 

 that species in the United States National Museum, Reuss's original 

 description and the later one by Felix 5 were consulted, but neither 

 are the details of the structure and mode of formation of the wall or 

 of the septa, nor is the character of the endotheca given. At present 

 it is not known whether Brachyphyllia is an imperforate coral belong- 

 ing to the family OrbieeUidae, or whether it is a fungid coral, related to 

 or the same as Cyathomorpha. 



Duncan G refers Agathiphyllia to the synonymy of Cyathomorpha 

 without giving any reason for adopting the later instead of the earlier 

 name. The type-species of Agathiphyllia, A. explanata Reuss, is 

 from Oberburg, Styria. According to the figures, Agathiphyllia has 

 not the wide paliform lobes of Cyathomorpha; but critical study of 



i K. K. Akad. Wiss. Wien., Mat.-Naturwiss. CI., Denkschr., vol. 7, p. 103, 1854. 



2 Idem. vol. 23, p. 14, 1864. 



s Idem. vol. 28, p. 143, 1888. 



* Idem. vol". 23, p. 15, 1864. 



5 Palaeontographica, vol. 49, p. 260, 1903. 



s Linn. Soc. London Journ. (Zool.), vol. 18, p. 105, 1884. 



37149— 19— Bull. 103 18 



