35 2 COELENTERATA — ANTHOZOA chap. 



Fam. 4. Ooralliidae. — The axis is formed by the fusion of 

 spicules into a dense, solid, inflexible, calcareous core. 



Gorallium, Lamarck. Gorallium nobile, Pallas, the " precious 

 coral," occurs in the Mediterranean, chiefly off the coast of North 

 Africa, but also on the coasts of Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, and it 

 extends to the Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. C. 

 japonicum, Kishinouye, called Akasango by the fishermen, occurs 

 off' the coast of Japan, and 0. reginae, Hickson, has recently been 

 described from deep water off the coast of Timor.^ The genus 

 Pleurocorallium, Gray, is regarded by some authors as distinct, 

 but the characters that are supposed to distinguish it, namely, 

 the presence of pecuKar " opera-glass-shaped spicules," and the 

 occurrence of the verrucae on one side of the branches only, are 

 not very satisfactory, The following species are therefore placed 

 by Kishinouye ^ in the genus Gorallium : — C. elatius, Eidley 

 (Momoirosango) ; C. konojoi, Kishinouye (Shirosango) ; G. hoshu- 

 ensis, K. ; G. sulcatum, K. ; G. inutile, K. ; and G. pusillum, K., — 

 all from the coast of Japan. Of the coral obtained from these 

 species, the best kinds of Momoirosango vary in price from £30 

 per pound downwards according to the quality. The Shirosango 

 is the least valuable of the kinds that are brought into the 

 market, and is rarely exported.^ Three species of Gorallium 

 (Pleurocorallium) have been described from Madeira,^ and one 

 of these, G. johnsoni, has recently been found in 388 fathoms off 

 the coast of Ireland.^ Other species are G. stylasteroides, from 

 Mauritius ; G. confusum, Moroff,^ from Sagami Bay in Japan ; and 

 an undescribed species obtained by the " Siboga," off Djilolo. 

 These corals range from shallow water to depths of 300-500 

 fathoms. Pleurocoralloides, Moroff, differs from the others in 

 having very prominent verrucae and in the character of the 

 large spindle-shaped and scale-like spicules. It was found in 

 Sagami Bay, Japan. Specimens attributed to the genus Pleuro- 

 corallium have been found fossil in the white chalk of France, 

 but Gorallium has been found only in the tertiaries.'^ 



' Hickson, K. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam, 1905. 



^ Journ. Imp. Fish. Bureau, Tokyo, xiv. 1, 1904. 



' Kitahara, Journ. Imp. Fish. Bureau, Tokyo, xiii. 3, 1904. 



* Johnson, Proc. Zool. Sac. 1899, p. 57. 



^ Hickson, Nature, Ixxiii. 1905, p. 5. 



" Moroff, Zool. Jahri. St/st. xvii. 1902, p. 404. 



' Ridley, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1882, p. 231. 



