248 



Fam. EUPSAMMID^. 



Leptopenus discus (?), Moseley (H), pp. 205-8, pi. xiv., 

 figs. 1-4, pi. xvi., figs. 1-7, (G), p. 162. 



The specimens on which the species was established were 

 dredged by the "Challenger" in deep water in the southern 

 Indian Ocean. Dredged oft' Port Jackson, at a depth of 250 

 fathoms; also by Dr. Verco off Cape Jaffa, at 90 fathoms; 

 off Beachport, from 100 to 200 fathoms ; and 35 miles south- 

 westerly of Neptune Islands, at 104 fathoms. All the South 

 Australian examples were imperfect. 



NoTOPHYLLiA RECTA, Dennant (G), p. 163, pi. v., fig. 4. 



This genus was founded by Mr. Dennant to receive three 

 species of Tertiary fossils of Victoria. The above recent 

 species has been dredged off Port Jackson, and by Dr. Verco 

 off Cape Jaffa at a depth of 130 fathoms. 



Dendrophyllia atrata, Dennant (G), p. 163, pi. vi., fig. 5. 



Fairly common in Gulf St. Vincent, Investigator Strait, 

 and Backstairs Passage, at depths from 14 to 22 fathoms. 



The corals in the above list, with the exception of the 

 three species of Fle.siastrcea, are almost exclusively simple 

 corals, solitary in their habit of growth and in their respec- 

 tive genera, possessing a wide range with regard to bathy- 

 metrical and thermal conditions in their distribution. The 

 Plesiastrcce are, however, coral-reef forms, and the members 

 of the Astreidae (the family to which they belong) are essen- 

 tially coral-reef builders. Their occurrence in South Aus- 

 tralian waters must, therefore, be regarded as a remarkable 

 instance of a characteristically tropical type living in the 

 low-temperature seas of southern Australia. 



Edwards and Haime in their list of corals (C), pp. 489- 

 492, enumerate four known species of living Plesiastrecc, two 

 of these being Australian, one Indian Ocean, and another 

 the locality of which was unknown to them. To these Dana 

 (Report on Zoophytes) added four others, and Verrill one, 

 all of which were from the Pacific Ocean, viz., Tahiti, Fiji, 

 and Society Islands. (L), pp. 328-9. Another species of 

 Plesiastrcea has been determined from the Island of St. 

 Thomas, in the West Indies. 



With the exception of the last named all the Plesiastrece 

 are found either within Australian wat-ers or in the South 

 Pacific Ocean. The genus must, therefore, be considered as 

 essentially Australasian in its occurrence. 



