NOTES ON PHILIPPINE ALCYONARIA 



PART V: CORNULARIA MINUTA, A NEW SPECIES 



By S. F. Light 



{From the Zoological Laboratory, College of Liberal Arts, 



University of the Philippines) 



SEVEN TEXT FIGURES 



Cornularia minuta sp. nov. Figs. 1-7. 



Specific characters. — The very minute colonies are attached to 

 the surface of support by the creeping, anastomosing, threadlike 

 stolons. The polyps arise from the stolons at irregular intervals, 

 and when fully expanded have a maximum length of about 2.5 

 millimeters, including the tentacles, and a minimum diameter of 

 from 0.3 to 0.4 millimeter just below the tentacles. Each polyp 

 is connected with one or more stolons, each of which contains 

 two or more endodermal canals lying in a thick homogeneous 

 mesogloea. These stolons are covered with a very thin, wrinkled, 

 perisarclike, horny envelope, an extension of which forms a 

 cuplike covering for the basal portion of the polyps. The ex- 

 panded polyps are slender, and the tentacles are about one third as 

 long as the body of the polyp and bear on either side a single 

 row of from 6 to 10 rather short, thick, cylindrical pinnules. 

 When contracted, the distal portion of the polyp is retracted 

 within the basal, horny covering, which is then cone-shaped 

 or beehivelike. There are no spicules. 



Color. — The polyps are dirty white to light yellow and more 

 or less transparent. The perisarc of the basal portion of the 

 polyps is dirty yellow or light brown and has a granular or 

 corrugated appearance due to the wrinkles in its surface and 

 to the particles of foreign matter attached to it. The stolons 

 are white to light yellow and somewhat transparent. 



Type. — No. C. 2457, zoological collection of the University of 

 the Philippines; Legaspi Bay, Albay Province, Luzon, P. I.; 

 January. 



The specimens were found growing on colonies of Siphono- 

 gorgia variabilis Hickson from the cable in Legaspi Bay in 90 

 meters of water. 



Systematic position. — It has been no easy matter to determine 

 the systematic position of this alcyonarian. Its characters show 



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