OCR Text |
Show 42 MR. H. N. MOSELEY ON A N E W CORAL. [Feb. 3, Extreme height of the corallum 35 millims.; extreme length of the calicle 35 millims. ; extreme breadth of the calicle 26 millims. The single specimen on which the species is founded was purchased from a dealer, Mr. Cutter ; and its locality is unknown. It will be placed in the British Museum. Its nearest ally is Desmophyllum cailleti, Duch. & Mich., which was obtained during the United- States deep-sea dredging operations from 100 fathoms off Barbadoes, and also off Double-Headed Shot Keys from 615 fathoms1. From its appearance the species might be supposed to come from rather deep water; but its having found its way into the hands of a dealer is against this hypothesis. From D. cailleti the present species differs markedly in its colour, Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Desmophyllum lamprotichum, of the natural size. Fig. 1. View looking directly into the mouth of the calicle. Fig. 2. The corallum viewed from the side. its larger size, and in its rapidly expanding form, also in the very smooth and glistening appearance of its epitheca. The fact that the entire outer surface of the coral is covered with this shining epitheca would seem to show that this entire surface of the corallum remained covered with living tissue during the whole growth of the animal. It will probably be necessary to form a special genus for those corals at present included in the genus Desmophyllum which are straight and delicate in structure, have a shining epitheca, and never form roots, like Desmophyllum crista-galli. 1 See II. Cat. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, " Deep-Sea Corals," by L. F. de Pourtales (Cambridge, Mass. 1871), p. 16. |