242 



MR. S. O. RIDLEY ON ALCYONARIA 



Icon. Histiol. p. 140) — perhaps owing to my being misled by 

 two wrongly identified specimens in the Museum Collection. A 

 specimen from Malacca, recently received at the Museum, seems 

 to be identical with this species ; it agrees essentially with the 

 red specimen from Mergui. The original specimen figured by 

 Milne-Edwards and Haime is cream-coloured, the branches have 

 their longer diameter (exclusive of verrucas) 5 millim. ; the stem 

 apparently attains a thickness of 7 millim.; it is distantly branched. 



From these facts it will be seen that we probably have a 

 very variable species before us, colour, form, and size being 

 alike not to be depended on by themselves ; the spiculation 

 is fairly constant, but differs so little from that of allied forms 

 {J. juncea and J. fragilis) as to be scarcely a sufficient guide 

 per se to the recognition of the species. 



Hah. King Island Bay. 



Distribution of Species. — Red Sea {Mil tie- Edwards Sf Haime, 

 Klunzinger) ; Mascarene Islands Q Alert ' Coll.); JN.W. Australia 

 (Studer); N.E. Australia (' Alert' Coll.)', Malacca {Coll. Brit. 

 Mus.) ; Burmah coast {Coll. Mus. Calcutta)-, Singapore {Klun- 

 zinger). 



It may be of interest to note that in the pale specimen occur 

 two cases of anastomosis between branches, but this is pretty 

 obviously due to the crowded condition of the branches having 

 caused mutual apposition ; at any rate, in the case of the two 

 shorter branches thus united the horny axes themselves are 

 thoroughly fused together. 



JUNCELLA FRAGILIS ?, Var. 



Juncellajuncea {Esper), Kollilcer, Icon. Histiol. p. 140, pi. xviii. 

 figs. 45, 46. — ? Juncella fragilis, Hidleg, Report Zool. Coll. JI.M.8. 

 ' Alert, 1 Brit. Mus. p. 347, pi. xxxvi. fig. U. 



Under the above species I place with doubt two forms which 

 occur in t his collection, viz. : — (1) White or cream-coloured. The 

 only specimen of this which was placed before me has the apex 

 gone. It is L4 inches long, and probably when perfect was quite 

 four if not six inches longer; maximum diameter about 4 millim. 

 A group of four specimens, probably all referable to this variety, 

 occurs among tne Sponges, overgrown by the sponge Esperia 

 plumosa (Carter, supru, p. 72). One of these has a greatest 

 thickness of 5'o millim. near its broken distal extremity. (2) A 

 much decorticated pale brick-red specimen, now about 15 inches 



