ALCYONOID POLYPS. 83 



obtained by Dr. W. Stimpson, near Hong Kong, and called by 

 its discoverer Anthelia lineata ; the polyps are but partly ex- 

 panded. 



Other Alcyonoids are much branched, with the branches 

 thick and finger-like, and soft or flexible, and the polyps small 

 and wholly retractile into the mass. The branches, bare of 

 polyps, are usually of some dull pale color, and on account of 

 this fact some of these Alcyonia go by the common name of 

 dead-men's fingers. 



ANTHELIA LINEATA, ST. 



Some of the species form thick-lobed plates over the rocks ; 

 and occasionally they are brightly colored, even when the 

 polyps are unexpanded. 



The above kinds secrete granules or spicules of carbonate 

 of lime in the tissues, and are harsher or softer in texture ac- 

 cording to the proportion of these granules. 



Some species form branching tubes, rising from an in- 

 crusting base, which are rather firm owing to the calcareous 

 spicules present. Such species are referred to the genus Te- 

 lesto — one of which, from Hong Kong, from the collection 

 made by Dr. Stimpson, is here figured (from Verrill). The 

 second figure shows the form of the expanded polyps. The 

 unbranched species of this kind make up the genus Cornularia. 



In one family of this tribe the polyps form red calcareous 

 tubes ; sometimes a slender, creeping tube, with polyps at 

 intervals, as in a species referred by the author to the genus 



