138 New York State Museum 



crusting stones and shells. The Fleshy Coral (Alcyo- 

 nium carnewm) is rarely seen in shallow water, but 

 is common on rocks at a depth greater than 20 feet. 

 It ranges from the east end of Long Island to the 

 Gulf of St Lawrence. The expanded coral resembles 

 a delicate pink flower, but when this form is first 

 brought up from the bottom it looks like an ugly, 

 tough gelatinous mass covered with finger-shaped 

 processes of a dull yellowish-pink color. Dead-Men's- 

 Fingers (Alcyonium palmatum) is another fleshy 

 coral, sometimes found at low-water mark, but usually 

 in deeper water attached to shells and stones. It has 

 the appearance of a human hand with only the stumps 

 of the fingers left, hence the name. It is found in 

 abundance along the New England coast. An im- 

 mense type, treelike in form and measuring six feet 

 or more in length, grows on the fishing banks off New- 

 foundland and is sometimes brought up with the fish- 

 ing lines. 



Of the worms the Shell Worm (Serpula dianthus) will 

 probably attract the most attention, not only because it is 

 so common along our coasts from Cape Cod to New 

 Jersey, but also because of the crooked, stony white tube 

 which it secretes upon the surface of rocks and dead 

 shells etc. One bryozoan, the Moss Animal (Bugula 

 turrita), occurs very abundantly everywhere along the 

 coast from Maine to North Carolina, and it is so abun- 

 dant on rocks below low-tide level that they appear to be 

 covered with mossy tufts ten inches to a foot long. It 

 also grows on piles and wharves. The tufts are erect ; 

 the lower part of the stem is orange in color, while the 

 tufts of branches are pearly-white or yellowish. This 

 form, like all the species of Bugula, has the birdlike 



