

380 THE GORGONIANS OF THE BRAZILIAN COAST. 



Mar Grande, Bahia. Coll. Richard Rathbun. Exped. C. F. Hartt Tvn 

 No. 4510. ' Pe ' 



The mode of branching and the forms of the branches and calicles are so 

 similar to certain slender-branched Oriental species of corals of the genus Acropora 

 (formerly Madrepora) as to suggest the name. 



Muricea bicolor Wright and Studer. 



Voy. Chall., vol. XXXI, p. 134, pi. XXIII, fig. 11 (calicles), Plate XXV, figure 8. 



This species is evidently nearly allied to the preceding, but it is more loosely 

 branched, with larger branches. The calicles also differ in form, and the spinu- 

 lation of the spicules is finer and more complex. Those of the inner layer are 

 violet-color. 



It was dredged off Bahia, Brazil, in 10 to 20 fathoms by the " Challenger." 



Family PRIMNOID^ Gray (emended). 



Primnoadce Gray, op. cit., p. 285, 1857. 



This family, which is partial to deep water, is not represented in our littoral 

 Brazilian collections, but some species have been found in moderate depths off 

 the coast of Brazil and farther south. 



The " Challenger" took Primnoella distans Studer, an Australian species, off 

 Pernambuco, in 120 to 200 fathoms. The Hassler Expedition, 1872, dredged 

 Primnoella nitida V., a slender, unarmed, diffusely branching species with 

 polished calicle-scales, imbricated in four or five rows, in 44 fathoms, off La Plata. 



The " Challenger " also dredged P. magellanica Studer and P. murrayi W. and 

 S., both in 600 fathoms, off Montevideo. 



No doubt these and other species of the family live at moderate depths off the 



Brazilian coast. 



The " Challenger " also dredged Stenella johnsoni W. and S., off Ascension!, 

 in 420 fathoms: and S. acanthia W. and S., off La Plata, in 600 fathoms. 



Family PLEXAURID^ Gray. 



Plexauridce Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 3, vol. IV, p. 442, 1859. sfiq 



Plexaurida Verrill {pars), Proc. Essex Inst., vol. IV, pp. 148, 186, 1865; and vol. VI, , p. «, ^™- 



Trans. Conn. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. 413, 1868-1869. Wright and Studer, op. cit., 1889, P- » 



Nutting, Siboga Exped., Monog. XIII, b4, 1910. 

 Euniceidm Kolliker, Icones Histiol., II, p. 137, 1865. _, . v m flnfl 



Plexaurida Verrill, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. XI, p. 39, 1883; The Bermuda Is., Fart V, inu». 



Conn. Acad. Sci., vol. XII, p. 258, 1907. 



Unarmed and unarmored Gorgonacea usually having a thick coenencnyma. 

 Axis is not jointed, commonly branched. It may be entirely horn-like or par i- 

 ally calcified in some genera. , 



Surface of ccenenchyma is not spinose. External spicules are smaller ttmn 

 the inner ones and commonly form a special coating of small, club-s p > 

 spheroidal, or granule-like spicules of various forms. Surface is often co 

 with a thin membranous coating, concealing the spicules. Inner spicue 

 often large, mostly spindles, double-spindles and crosses, without complex 



