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Show 1899.] CORALS FROM FUNAFUTI. 49 been rubbed off; but what remains of the ccenenchyma is thin. The polyps arise almost perpendicularly, and mostly on the two sides. The end of a branch bears two polyps, one slightly in advance of the other, but neither truly terminal. The polyps are -92 mm. in height by 1*3 mm. in breadth at the base. The spicules of the ccenenchyma are chiefly four-rayed stars and flattened curved spindles, giving off spines from the convex side. They are *12 mm. long by '2 mm. broad. The polyps are covered with broad flat spicules, somewhat triangular in shape, with branched lateral outgrowths. They are •22 m m. x -49 mm. (length by breadth). The operculum is eight-rayed; each ray consists of two broadish spicules, converging at the apex. Their bases rest on a horizontally placed spicule, curved in shape and somewhat spiny. The opercular spicules are '31 mm. x "07 mm. The axis is horny, flexible, with the centre divided into chambers. The colour of the colony in spirit is reddish brown. The spicules of the ccenenchyma and polyps are bright red, those of the operculum white. Hab. Outer slope of Ellice Island. Depth 40-71 fathoms. This form differs from V. intricata Gray in the size of the polyps and of the spicules, the arrangement of the polyps, and the colour of the spicules. It differs from V. mauritiensis Ridley (5) in the size of the polyps, the shape of the spicules of the verrucas, and the colour of trie colony. It differs from V. flabellata Whitelegge (9) in the colour and form of the spicules. It differs from V. nigrescens Duchassaing & Michelotti (1) in the form and size of the verrucas and in the colour of the colony. MURICELLA FLEXILIS, n. sp. (Plate III. figs. 1, 2.) There is one small specimen of this form. It is 130 mm. in height and 70 mm. across the widest part. The main stem is 1*5 mm. in diameter near the base. Branching takes place iu one plane, the branching arising from two sides of the stem. Lateral branches are borne in the same plane. The branches are slightly flattened in the plane of branching ; they all end in a small fat expansion with two lateral polyps borne close to the apex, making it somewhat hammer-shaped. The calyces are -9 mm. by "8 m m. in diameter at the base. The polyps are only partially retracted, the heads, measuring -6 mm. X *5 m m. in diameter, being visible above the verrucas. The spicules are spindle-shaped, with warts not very thickly placed. They are P105 mm. X -09 mm., -83 mm. x -073 mm., •18 m m. X '027 mm. The colour in spirit is dirty white, the brown axis showing through the thin white ccenenchyma. Hab. Outer slope of the reef of Funafuti. Depth 40-71 fathoms. This specimen differs from M. tenera Ridley (5) in the greater PROC. ZOOL. SOC-1899, No. IV, 4 |