22 



PEOF. P. M. DUNCAN ON THE MAT) REPOB ARIA 



costge over the common basal structure is very well shown and 

 so are the pali. A single corallite has a great resemblance to 

 Astrangia palifera, Verrill, from Ceylon, but the Mergui form is 

 not an Astrangia. The smallness of the pali in Polycyathus 

 difficilis and their resemblance to columellary papilla? may mislead, 

 but in some of the corallites the existence of pali and the absence 

 of endotheca are as apparent as is the presence of costse reaching 

 down to and upon the intermediate basal structure. 



Pocillopora is represented by two species, one of which is 

 also found in the Eed Sea, whilst the other has a Sandwich- 

 Island habitat. 



Of the genus Mussa two of the species in the collection are 

 Red-Sea forms, and the third, M.Jlexuosa, Ed. & H., obtains a 

 known habitat for the first time. They are all fine forms. 



EupJiyllia striata and F. plicata now receive known habitats ; 

 and F. rugosa is also from Fiji. 



The species of Symphyllia are common to the Eed Sea and the 

 islands of the Pacific ; and the solitary species of Hydnophora is 

 also found in the seas of the great islands to the east. 



The four species of Mceandrina, subgenus Cceloria, show the 

 intermediate character of the Mergui fauna, for some are known 

 in the Red Sea and others are members of the Chinese and Pacific 

 faunas. 



The genus JBrachymceandrina was founded to receive a form 

 well known in the Eed Sea, and there are specimens from Mergui. 



The six species of Favia are known in the coral-faunas of 

 the Eed Sea and the Seychelles. Goniastraa is a genus which 

 has also species in the Eed Sea, Ceylon, Seychelles, and in the 

 Pacific reefs. The Mergui forms are large as a rule. One, 

 G. Bournoni, Ed. & H., has a habitat given to it for the first 

 time. Goniastrcea incrustans is a new species, and it shows how 

 necessary it is to study the variations of every part of a colony in 

 order to diagnose a species properly. It is evident, after an 

 examination of the whole of the specimen which is the type, 

 that were it broken up and fossilized two or three species and a 

 D6W genus might be made out of it. The interesting point is the 

 absence of the large crown of pali in some few corallites and the 

 1 hicknefB of the fused wall of others, some resembling species of 

 Favia. 



Mr. Quelch, late of the British Museum, has given me his 

 efficient help in comparing souk; of the Phymastram from Mergui 



