lis 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol.LII 



Must-urn collections, reports 15 families, 3-t genera, and 

 123 species, varieties and forms. As Bryan 3 states, 



Some idea of the richness of the coral fauna of any given locality 

 can be gathered from the fact that the reef and shallow waters along 

 the south side of Oahu, but especially at Waikiki, yielded examples of 



Of the Hawaiian stony corals (Madreporarians) the 

 genus Pontes is the most abundant and is represented by 

 the largest number of species and varieties. Pocillopora 

 ranks next in importance, followed by Montipora, Pa- 

 roxia, Far/a, Lcptaxtn.-n, C ' ijpliastrru, and Fungia. The 

 last-named genus merits special mention because of the 

 unique shape of the skeleton, which closely resembles the 

 inverted head of a fully expanded mushroom, hence the 

 name mushroom coral. These are solitary, and fairly 

 common. They are usually found lying flat on the floor 

 of little pools or pockets along the outer edge of the reef. 



The corals, like many other groups of marine or- 

 ganisms, are remarkable for the variety and brilliancy of 

 their color during life. Those who know only the bleached 

 museum specimens have little conception of the living 

 tints, some of rare delicacy, others of brilliant hue. The 

 Hawaiian reefs, although they do not show colors as 

 striking as those of the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, 

 are not lacking in color, and the "Coral Gardens" are 

 becoming far-famed as tourist attractions. Pink, yellow, 

 green, brown, purple and scarlet are represented in many 

 shades and combinations. 



One of the most beautiful of the Hawaiian corals is a 

 highly precinctive species, Dendrophillia Mcmni, which is 

 known only from Kaneohe Bay, on the island of Oahu. 

 The living coral is a rich deep orange red. There are 

 numerous short branches, each of which is surmounted by 

 a single bright orange polyp. When fully expanded the 

 polyp is about three quarters of an inch long, and re- 

 sembles a miniature sea-anemone. The polyp can with- 

 draw completely within its cup. This species is rare, 



