THE STONY CORALS OF THE PORTO RICAN WATERS. 
By T. WAYLAND VAUGHAN. 
INTRODUCTION. 
In the following account of corals collected around Porto Rico by the U. S. Fish 
Commission steamer Fish Hawk during the expedition of 1898-1899, T have used a 
considerable part of a paper written for the Royal Leyden Geological Museum, entitled 
“ Some Fossil Corals from the Elevated Reefs of Curasao, Arube, and Bonaire.” 1 As 
that paper may not be easily accessible to all of those into whose hands the present 
one may fall, instead of referring to it, the necessary data are republished here. 
My conclusions regarding synonymy may not meet universal agreement among 
students of zoophytes. The number of species recognized is very often a function of 
the amount of material studied. My guide in the separation of species has been the 
absence of intermediate forms, and from the study of enormous amounts of material 
I have felt justified in uniting previously characterized species to a greater extent, 
probably, than any other student of West Indian corals; but I have recognized that 
the species can often be divided into considerable numbers of forma 1 or varieties and 
have correspondingly treated many of them. By means of the notes on the material 
from Porto Rico and the profuse illustrations, one should be able to know precisely 
what particular varieties or forms of the species have been collected and studied. 
The following table gives the numbers of the stations at which the species were 
collected and the depth and character of the bottom: 
Name. 
Locality. 
Depth 
(fathoms). 
Bottom. 
Not given. 
Cya'thoeeras portoricensis, sp. nov 
Paracyathus de filippii Duchassaing & Michelotti 
43 „ 
Sand, mud, shells. 
Do. 
Stations 6062, 6075 
8 A to 30 
97 to 120 
10 to 16 .. . 
Do 
15}... 
Do 
43... 
Sand, mud, shells. 
Coral sand. 
Do 
Meandrina maeandrites (Linn.)? young 
Stations 6080, 6087 
15} to 20 ... . 
15} 
debilis M.-Edw. & H 
Astrangia solitaria? yar. portoricensis, var. nov 
Not given. 
Not given. 
16 
Do. 
Ensenada Honda, Maya- 
guez, Aguadilla. 
Reef. 
Do. 
Ido 
Do. 
Do. 
16 
do 
16 
Do. 
Station 6079 
20 to 23 
Do. 
223 to 231 . . . 
Sand, mud. 
Isopora muricata (Linn.) ss. (forma cervicornis Lam.).. 
to 10 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
divaricata Le Sueur 
Station 6087 
15} 
.do 
Do. 
1 Samml. des Geologisch. Reichs. Museum, Leiden, ser. n, Bd. n, Heft 1, pp. 1-91, 1901. 
291 
