vm, D. 6 Light: Philippine Alcyonaria 443 



A study of the anatomy of this colony may show it to be 

 specifically distinct, but it would be premature in the present 

 state of our knowledge of the anatomy of the genus and on 

 the present basis of specific diagnosis to so consider it. 



Capnella philippinensis var. albida var. nov. Plate I, figs. 5 and 6. 



The colony is tree-like, and the secondary and tertiary branches 

 and twigs are slender. The rather long, narrow, distinctly club- 

 shaped polyps average in contracted specimens 2.1 mm. in length, 

 1 mm. in diameter at the tentacle zone, and 0.35 mm. in diameter 

 at the base, and are scattered irregularly over the surface of the 

 main, secondary, and tertiary branches and the slender ter- 

 minal twigs. They are more numerous on the twigs, but here 

 they are much more scattered than in the typical form of the 

 species. The canals are narrow in both expanded and con- 

 tracted specimens with thick canal walls. They are practically 

 absent in the center of the stem, the thickened canal walls form- 

 ing a large irregular central axis containing many large spicules. 

 The spiculation is in general similar to that of C. philipivensis 

 forma typica, but the polyp capstans are consistently smaller, 

 and the spindles of the canal walls and base are the predominat- 

 ing forms and larger than in the forma typica. 



The following measurements in millimeters have been noted: 



(a) Polyp capstans: 0.95 by 0.08; 0.087 by 0.08; 0.064 by 0.047; 0.06 by 



0.45. 

 (6) Base spindles: 0.357 by 0.228; 0.3 by 0.19; 0.247 by 0.15; 0.247 by 



0.136. 



Color in formalin, whitish to light yellow. 



Locality: Port Galera Bay, Mindoro. 



Type specimen No. C. 260 in the zoological museum of the 

 University of the Philippines. 



This well-defined variety may very well prove to be specifically 

 distinct. I have 4 specimens collected on the reefs in the in- 

 closed bay at Port Galera, Mindoro. All of them were growing 

 on small rocks and coral fragments in from 0.5 to 2 meters of 

 water. Two of them were anaesthetized and killed expanded, 

 arid are soft and flabbly with the polyps opened and tubular in 

 shape, the narrowing at the base which is probably due to con- 

 traction b^ng absent in most of the polyps of these two colonies. 

 Two of the collies are imperfect, lacking the base, but are of 

 about the same proportions as the other two. The two complete 

 colonies (one of which is expanded) measure, respectively, 50 

 mm. and 45 mm. in height and 37.5., mm. and 30 mm. in breadth. 



