Fossil Corals, 213 



Distribution. — Cliristnias Island. Fossil fi'om the raised reefs 

 of the sea cliff at Rocky Point. Also recent from fringing reef 

 of Flying Fish Cove. 



Affinities. — The main character of this species is the snhequal 

 size of its septa, which are alternately large and small in most 

 species. 



A recent specimen fi^om Christmas Island has been provisionally 

 named by Mr. Bernard C, aff. sinensis, with which it agrees in 

 some characters. But according to Edwards & Haime's diagnosis 

 of C, sinensis the "valleys are extremely short; one sees few of 

 them which are more than 2 cm. in length, and a great number 

 of calices are independent {se circonscrivent).^^ The septa, moreover, 

 are alternately large and small. C. sinensis is, indeed, placed 

 by its founders in their genus Astroria, whereas the present 

 species seems to me to be necessarily excluded from that section 

 of Cceloria. 



Another ally of M. equisepta is C. arabica, Klz.^ {C. forshaeli, 

 Ed. & H.), which differs, among other characters, by the unequal 

 size of the septa. C. hottai, Ed. & H.,^ in this respect agrees with 

 the Christmas Island species, but it has the columella " tout-a-fait 

 rudimentaire." 



Another coral with which this species has points of resemblance 

 is the Ilceandritia heterogyra of Ed. & H. ; ^ but that species is 

 described as having subequal septa of 2-3 cycles, a well developed 

 columella, and 12-14 septa per cm. The locality of the type is 

 unknown, and Quelch* maintains that it is a West Indian coral, 

 and the name is a synonym of M. strigosa, Dana, i.e. Moiandrina 

 aiograna (Esper). 



Eeference to this Mceandrina raises the question of the retention 

 of Mceandrina and Cceloria. The latter genus was founded by 

 Milne Edwards & Haime^ in 1848 for one species previously 

 known as Mceandrina dcedalea, which must therefore be taken as 

 the type. Cceloria was separated from Mceandi'ina simply as in 

 the former the columella is parietal and mdimentary, and in the 

 latter is essential and spong}'. In 1857 Edwards & Haime^ 

 retained the genera on the same grounds : they stated that in 

 Mceandrina the columella is " bien developpee," whereas Cmloria 

 belongs to a group with the columella rudimentary or absent. 

 Since that date those authors who have accepted Codoria have 



1 Kluuzinger: Korallth. Eotk. Meer., iii, Steinkor., pt. 2 (1879), p. 17, 

 pi. ii, figs. 1-3 and 8 ; pi. ix, fig. 10. 



2 Edwards & Haime, Mem. Astr., pt. ii : Ann. Sci. nat., Zool., ser. iii, 

 vol. xi (18-i9), p. 295. 



3 EdAvards & Haime, Mem. Astr,, pt. ii: Ann. Sci. nat., Zool., ser. in, 

 vol. xi (1849), p. 281. 



^ Quelch, Eeef Corals : Eep. Cliall. Exped., Zool., vol. xvi, pt. 46, p. 93. 

 5 Edwards & Haime, Classif. deux. trib. Astr. : Compt. Eend., vol. xlvi, 

 p. 493. 



^ Edwards & Haime : Hist. nat. Cor., vol. ii, p. 289. 



