44 



men aftager successivt i Tykkelse opad, hvor den ender i 

 to Grene, som hver bærer 5—6 Polyper. Basaldelen er 

 fast, læderagtig, membranagtig udbredt over den Gjenstand, 

 hvortil den er fæstet, og Længdekanalerne ere stærkere 

 fremtrædencle end paa den ovrige Del af Stammen. Om- 

 trent et Par Millimeter fra Basaldelen og til Toppen er 

 Stammen rigt forsynet med Grene, der sidde rundt om 

 samme. Lige ved Grunclen udspringer en Del Polyper 

 direkte fra Stammen, Fig. 42. 



Grenene ere runde, stive, svagt furede og af noget 

 forskjellig Læugde; omtrent paa Midten af Stammen ere 

 de længst. De ere nøgne i 3— 4'"'" Længde fra Udspringet, 

 og fra deres Ende udgaar i Regelen 3 Smaagrene, der 

 bære hver 6—7 Polyper, som danne en Gruppe, Fig. 42. 

 Hver Gren har 4 Længdekanaler. der orngive et bredt 

 Centrum af Bindevæv. hvori tindes større og mindre 

 Ernæringskanaler. Coenenchymet er saavel i Stammen 

 som i Grenene forholdsvis meget tykt og bidrager til at 

 give disse Dele sin Fasthed. Baade Stammen og Grenene 

 indeholde Spikier. 



Polyperne ere cylindriske med en udvidet Forkrop og 

 en langstrakt Bagkrop, Fig 43. De ere 7 — S mm lange, 

 2,5'""" brede ved Mundskiven, men smalner af mod Bag- 

 kroppen, der er ved Udspringet omtrent halvt saa bred 

 som Mundskiven. Denne er noget hvælvet og har i Midten 

 den aflange Mundaabning med tykke Læber. Tentaklerne 

 ere 3 — 4"™ lange og udgjøre omtrent Halvdelen af Polypens 

 Længde. Polyperne ere rige paa Spikier og ved Grunden 

 ere 2 og 3 sammenvoxede, Fig. 43. 



Zoanthodemet er hos de 4 Exemplarer, der bleve 

 fundne paa Expeditionen, fæstet til Hornera frondosa, dels 

 døde, dels levende Specimina. Basaldelen udbreder sig 

 over en større Strækning af Korallen og dræber derved 

 dennes Individer paa det Sted, Fig. 42. 



Paa Basaldelen ligge Spiklerne temmelig pakkede paa 

 hverandre og danne forskjellige Former. Den almindelig- 

 ste er takkede Klubber, fra 0.100— 0.120™ lange og 0.060""" 

 brede i den tykke Ende; de have alle et meget kort Skaft, 

 Fig. 44. 45; kun sjeldent træffes en lang, stærkt takket 

 Kølle, 0.260""" lang, 0.040""" bred foroven, Fig. 46. Hyp- 

 pigere sees Dobbeltstjerner, 0.096"™ lange, 0.040""" brede i 

 Enderne med et smalt, nøgent Midtbelte, Fig. 47. Sammen- 

 satte Stjerner, Fig. 48, og takkede Valser, Fig. 49, ere 

 sjeldne; de første ere 0.122"™ lange, 0.060""" brede; de 

 sidste ere 0.120™'" lange og 0.060""" brede. Hist og her. 

 men sjeldent, sees snart lige, snart krumme, takkede Spind- 

 ler, 0.280""" lange, 0.040"™ brede, Fig. 50. Iblandt de 

 ovennævnte Spikier findes noget forskjelligt formede Fir- 

 linger, saaledes korsformet Firling, besat med smaa Vorter, 

 Længestok, 0.100»™, Tverstok, 0.092""", Fig. 51; Firling, 

 sparsomt besat med smaa Vorter, 0.080°™ bred, 0.060""" 



grooved, measures, at the base, 20""" in circumference, but 

 diminishes, gradually, in thickness, upwards, where it termi- 

 nates in two branches, each of which carries 5 - 6 polyps. 

 The basal part is firm and coriaceous, and it is membran- 

 aceously spread over the object to which it is attached, and 

 the longitudinal ducts are more prominent than on the 

 other parts of the stem. From about a couple of milli- 

 metres above the basal part, and thence to the summit, the 

 stem is abundantly furnished with branches, situated round 

 about it. Quite at the root, a number of polyps spring 

 direct from the stem (fig. 42). 



The branches are cylindrical, stiff and faintly grooved, 

 and they have a somewhat variable length, being longest 

 about the middle of the stem. For a distance of 3 — 4""" 

 from their root they are bare, and from their extremities 

 there, usually, spring 3 branchlets, each of which carries 

 6—7 polyps which form a group (fig. 42). Each branch 

 has 4 longitudinal ducts which surround a broad central 

 portion of connective-tissue, in Avhich larger and smaller 

 nutritory-ducts are found. Both in the stem and the 

 branches the sarcosoma is, relatively, very thick, and 

 contributes to impart to these parts their firmness. Both, 

 the stem and the branches, contain spicules. 



The polyps are cylindrical, and have a dilated anterior 

 body and an elongate posterior bo.dy (fig. 43). They mea- 

 sure 7 — 8""" in length, and 2.5""" in breadth at the oral 

 disk, but become diminished towards the posterior body, 

 which, at its origin, is about half the breadth of the oral 

 disk. This latter is somewhat arcuate, and carries, in 

 its middle, the oblong oral aperture with thick labiæ. The 

 tentacles measure 3 — 4""" in length, and compose about 

 half part of the length of the polyps. The polyps are 

 rich in spicules, and 2, and sometimes 3 of them, are con- 

 creted together at the base (fig. 43). 



In the 4 specimens that were found during the 

 expedition, the Zoanthodem is secured to Hornera fron- 

 dosa, partly dead, partly living specimens. The basal 

 part spreads itself over a considerable extent of the coral, 

 and destroys, thus, the individual members on that spot 

 (fig. 42). 



In the basal part, the spicules are placed, pretty 

 much packed upon each other, and consist of different forms. 

 The most common form is the spicate clavate, measuring from 

 0.100—0.120"™ in length, and 0.060""" in breadth at 

 the thick extremity; all, of them, have a very short 

 shaft (figs. 44. 45), only rarely is a long strongly spicate 

 subclavate met with, measuring 0.260 mm in length, and 0.040'"'" 

 in breadth above (fig. 46). More frequently are bistellates 

 seen, measuring 0.096""" in length, and 0.040" 1 '" in breadth at 

 the extremities, and having a narrow bare mesial belt (fig. 47). 

 Complex steiktes (fig. 48) and spicate rollers (fig. 49) 

 are rare. The first mentioned measure 0.122'""' in length, 

 and 0.060'""' in breadth ; and the last mentioned measure, 

 0420""" in length and 0.060""" in breadth. Here and 

 there, but rarely, sometimes straight, sometimes bent, 

 spicate fusees are seen, measuring 0.280""" in length, and 

 0.040'"'" in breadth (fig. 50). Amongst the above-mentioned 



