X, D. 2 Light: Philippine Alcyonaria lg3 



The finer anatomy of Clavularia viridis and C. violacea is a 

 fascinating subject, and I hope at some time to be able to take it 

 up more fully. A third species of Clavularia seems to be rather 

 variable in form and size, and will probably be found to be 

 Schenk's Clavularia inflata.-'^ Some specimens agree with May's 

 C. inflata var. luzoniana.-' This is the only species of Clavularia 

 reported from the Philippines. May -' reports it from Albay 

 Province, Luzon, and we have specimens from Bantayan Island, 

 Mindoro Island, and Mariveles, Luzon. A few other specimens 

 may prove to belong to a new species of the genus. 



To the genus Sympodium 1 am assigning a number of incrust- 

 ing colonies which have Xema-like but retractile polyps and nu- 

 merous small disk-shaped spicules. With one exception they 

 were found growing on the branches of dead Madrepora. They 

 will probably prove to belong to two or three new species. I 

 recall finding on one of the reefs near Taytay, Palawan, a small 

 pocket or hole, somewhat deeper than the remainder of the reef 

 and just inside the growing edge, which was filled with a mass 

 of branches of dead Madrepora. Growing on the branches and 

 connected by ribbonlike stolons were hundreds of colonies of what 

 appeared to be a species of Xenia, ashy gray in color. On collect- 

 ing them, I found that the fleshy stalk characteristic of Xenia 

 was replaced by an incrusting membranous base into which the 

 polyps were entirely retracted when disturbed. It is colonies 

 of this type which I consider to belong to the genus Sympodium 

 now that the older species have been removed to the genus Alcyo- 

 nium where they more properly belong. It is interesting to note 

 how much more closely the polyps of these species resemble those 

 of Xenia in color, in the size and arrangement of the pinnules, 

 and in the general appearance in both living and preserved speci- 

 mens than they do those of Anthelia to which they would seem to 

 be more closely related. 



The only species of Cornularia in the collection, and the first 

 to be reported from Asiatic waters, is the small form spoken 

 of before as having been found growing on colonies of Siphono- 

 gorgia variabilis Hickson from the cable in Albay Bay at a depth 

 of 90 meters. The minute size of this form — ^the polyps are not 

 more than 2.5 millimeters in height when fully expanded and 

 the stolons are threadlike — and the peculiar thin horny covering 

 of the lower portions of the polyps and of the stolons, which has 



^ Ahhandl. d. Senckenb. naturf. Ges. (1896), 23, pt. 1. 

 "Jena. Zeitsehr. f. Naturw. (1899), 33. 



