NO. 1624. DESCRIPTIONS OF HAWAIIAN ALCYONARIA— NUTTING. 587 



Family CHRYSOGORGID.^ Verrill. 



Coenenchyma thin, polyps large, usually distant, in a single row 

 and nonretractile ; base of attachment calcareous. Calyces not evi- 

 dent as separate from the polyp walls, to the shape of which they 

 strictly conform ; no operculum nor collaret. Axis, when denuded, 

 generally with a brilliant metallic lustre. 



Subfamily L,EFIDOGOR,G-IlSr.;E:.'' 



Colony simple, unbranched, slender; polyps in a single row. 



Genus LEPIDOGORGIA Verrill. 

 The characters of the genus are the same as those of the subfamily. 



LEPIDOGORGIA GIBBOSA, new species. 

 Plate XLY, fig. 6; plate XLIX, fig. 5. 



The unbranched stems arise singly or in tufts from a fibrous mass 

 of rootlets which is small in comparison to the size of the stems; 

 height 150-200 mm. 



Stem flexible, slender, covered with a thin ccenenchyma; bearing 

 equidistant and unilateral polyps inclined toward the distal end. 



Polyps 27 mm. apart, emplanted along the Avhole length of the 

 stem; rather short, arising from a distinct swelling, which is larger 

 than the polyp body itself and embraces the stem. The polyp body 

 is sharply distinguished from this swelling, very short, being but 

 about 1 mm, in height to tentacles; tentacles very long and thread- 

 like, nonretractile, with long filamentous fringes. The tentacles are 

 very difficult to measure, on account of their being loosely coiled, but 

 they are at least twice as long as the polyp body. 



The spicules are small, rod-like, sometimes cruciform, rather 

 sparsely distributed, longitudinall}^ placed on polyp body, thickly dis- 

 tributed on the basal swelling and the cortex, apparently absent in the 

 tentacles. Those of the cortex are scale-like and lobed in various 

 ways. All spicules are without pronounced verrucse. 



Siphonozooids are present in this species, between the basal 

 swellings. 



Color. — Light buffy j^ellow, the bared stems showing a dull golden 

 iridescence. 



Type.— C^t. No. 25330, U.S.N.M., Albatross Station 3990, off 

 Kauai, 296-326 fathoms. 



Additional locality. — Off Kauai: Station 3989, 165-169 fathoms 

 (Cat. No. 25372, U.S.N.M.). Numerous specimens. 



"The arrangement of subfamilies, genera, and subgenera here adopted is 

 substantially that of Versluys in his excellent monograph of the Chrysogorgidie 

 of the Siboga expedition. 



