WITHIN THE GENUS DENURONEPHTHYA. 53 



Should be referred to Kiikenthal's Divaricate and section 

 divaricata, within Avhich they approach D. mollis. 



3. Coloioring. General surface white, anthocodial armature 

 and supporting bundles reddish brown in the largest specimen. 

 In the two younger colonies the anthocodial and supporting- 

 bundle spicules are amber-yellow. The fourth colony is ivory- 

 white. 



4. Polyp stalks about 1 mm. long. Text-ti^'. 13. 



5. Polyps arranged in groups of about 

 ten in number. 



6. Polyp spicules. One of the upper- 

 most pair of spicules in at least some of 

 the 8 points is strong, out of proportion 

 to the others and projects very markedly 

 beyond the polyp. The other spindles 

 of the points are small and converging, 

 and there may be 4 pairs of them. In 

 many cases the large projecting spindle 

 has fallen off, a.nd its attachment seems 

 to be very loose. 



The supporting bundle is very strongly d. mollis Holm 



developed and 3 or so of its component 



spicules project beyond the polyp for over 1 mm. The spindles 

 are densely and regularly covered with very small blunt tubercles, 

 while here a.nd there almost smooth forms occur. 



7. Other spicules. Those of the short stalk include, besides 

 spindles much rougher than those of the anthocodite and more 

 curved, various triradiate and smaller irregular quadriradiate 

 forms. 



Locality : — Amboina Reef. 



The two young divaricate colonies with amber-yellow antho- 

 codial and supporting-bundle spicules have distinct flattening, 

 and show what we regard as essential characteristics of D. mollis, 

 viz : — 



(1) a very mai-ked projection of one of the uppermost spicules 



of each point in the anthocodial armature ; 



(2) the presence of 3 or 4 other pairs of smaller spicules 



converging en chevron ; 



(3) the practical absence of any crown ; 



(4) the very strong supporting bundle with 3 specially strong 



spicules, one of which projects beyond the others for 

 about one millimetre ; 



(5) the dense regular covering of the anthocodial, supporting- 



bundle, and coenenchyma spicules Avith short blunt 

 tubercles ; 



(6) the prevalence on the short stalk of much rougher spindles 



(straight, ciu'ved, and much curved), with much longer and 

 more distant tubercles, and along with these numerous, 

 irregularly shaped, roughly tuberculate forms. 



