X, D, 1 Light: Philippine Alcyonaria, III 5 



a few large spindles covered with small projections. These 

 average 0.8 millimeter in length and 0.08 millimeter in diameter. 



The endoderm of the entire colony contains large numbers 

 of zooxanthellse to which the color of the colony is due. 



In life the stem was light yellow or brown and the polypary 

 greenish brown to green. These colors gradually fade out in 

 formalin, leaving the stem white and the polypary yellow. 



Locality. — Collected by Day in Little Baleteros Cove, Port 

 Galera, Mindoro, and by Light from Port Galera Bay, Mindoro, 

 and from Taytay Bay, Palawan, in from 1 to 3 meters on the 

 shallow reefs. 



Type. — No. C. 246 in the zoological collection of the University 

 of the Philippines. 



Systematic position. — In colony form this species is most like 

 L. acutifolium Kiikenthal (1913), and in spiculation it is most 

 like L. ramosum (Q. and G.). It differs from all other species 

 of Lithophytum with the exception of L. ramosum and L. stuhl- 

 manni (May) in that there are no spicules in the polyps and the 

 cortex of the distal portion of the colony. The position and 

 number of the lobes, the scarcity of the canal-wall spicules, 

 and the fact that the spicules are all spindles and found only 

 in the center of the stem effectually differentiate it from L. 

 ramosum. From L. stuhlmanni it differs, among other things, 

 in that its spicules are spindles only, while in L. stuhlmanni 

 they are irregular forms, double stars, etc. 



I have 9 colonies of this form from the two widely separated 

 habitats, all of which agree very closely with the description 

 given above. As it is the most widely distributed form on the 

 Philippine reefs, I have given it the specific name philippinensis. 



Lithophytum rigidum sp. nov. Plate II and text figures 2 and 3. 



The rather short, bushy colony consists of a number of cy- 

 lindrical stems which arise from a narrow base and extend 

 laterally and distally, reaching a length of from 75 to 100 milli- 

 meters. These stems have a swollen fleshy appearance and 

 a stiffness which keeps them in position. They are smooth in 

 appearance, being covered in their middle and lower portions 

 with a thin laye'r of numerous small spindles, but having no 

 spicules in their upper portions nor on the branches, twigs, or 

 polyps. The longitudinal line marking the points of junction 

 of the outer canals and the stem cortex are very distinct in the 

 upper portion of the colony, but are somewhat obscured by the 

 spicules below. The branching is irregular. A few of the stems 

 give off one or two short branches near the base, and most of 



