SOME POINTS IN NATURAL HISTORY OP PUNGIA. 359 
On Some Points in the Natural History of 
Fungia. 
By 
J. J. Lister, M.A. 
Duiung a visit to the Seychelles Islands at the latter end of 
last and the beginning of the present year 1 was so fortunate 
as to find species of the Madreporian Coral Fungia, both in 
the fixed and free conditions. Owing to the shortness of the 
time now at my disposal I have not been able to examine the 
material I have brought home as completely as I hope to on 
some future occasion, but as it throws light on some of the 
stages of the life-history of this group of Corals which have 
hitherto been obscure, a preliminary account may not be 
without interest. 
The Fungias are abundant in water from one to six feet 
deep towards the outer edge of the broad fringing reef of 
Malie, the principal island of the group. The reef is divided 
by deep winding channels, whose sides are formed by living 
Corals of many kinds. Between the channels the Coral comes 
very near the surface, so near that the summits of the branches 
of a blue tipped Madrepore, which is very abundant in these 
shallow areas, are out of water at low tides, though apparently 
without injury to the Coral. 
Over some areas this Madrepore has died, and it was on the 
dead branches that the fixed stocks of the Fungia were most 
abundant. Among the free forms Fungia discus and F. 
dentata were abundant. 
The young fixed stocks of Fungia are attached by a broad 
