MOPSELLAD^;. O /3. Coral dark red, with yellow cells ; cells small, in two rows, almost entirely confined to the sides of the branchlets ; in some specimens the cells are not so distinctly marked and bright- coloured as in others.
The interarticular pieces of the branches vary in surface : in some specimens they are nearly smooth, in other specimens they are deeply and irregularly longitudinally channelled. Lamarck describes three varieties : — a. Purple, ramuli very numerous.
b. Whitish yellow, ramuli less numerous.
c. Yellow, with series of purple cells on the sides of the branchlets. 71, Melithaea virgata.
Coral expanded ; principal branches nearly parallel, much elongated tapering, and subdividing far less rapidly than in M. ochracea ; the calcareous segments of the axis elongate.
Melithaea ochracea (part.), Dana, from Fejee Islands. Melitodes virgata, Verrill, Butt. Mm. Comp. Zacd* p. 38., Hob. Feejee Islands.
Fam. 7. MOPSELLAD^E.
Coral branched, on a plane ; branches from the articulations, forked, often parallel and anastomosing. Axis calcareous, solid, hard, semitransparent, pink, longitudinally striated. The internodes swollen, spongy or cork-like, red. Bark moderately thick, granular, spiculose. Polype-cells somewhat prominent, in one or more series on the edges of the branches.
Synopsis, of Genera.
I. Coral fan-shaped.
1. MELITELLA. Polype- cells long, in several rows. 2. ACABARIA. Polype-cells broad, short, in one row. 3. AJSTCELLA. Polype-cells small, prominent, in one row. II. Coral shrub-like, forked.
4. MOPSELLA. Coral shrub-like, dichotomous. 5. CLATHRARIA. Coral shrub-like, dichotomous, inosculating. I. Coral fan-shaped.
29. MELITELLA.
Coral fan-like, expanded, .forked ; branchlets generally inosculating, often divaricated. Cells rather convex, numerous, in several series on the sides and upper surface of the branches and branchlets, leaving a slender impressed line -destitute of cells on one (the lower)
MOPSELLAILZE.
surface of the branches. The axis solid, calcareous, not becoming spongy, longitudinally grooved. Buds and branches from the swollen joints. Bark hard, smooth. Polype-cells convex, with a thick, rounded, raised edge and sunken centre.
Melithaea, spv Milne-Edw. fy Haime, Corall i. p. 200. Melitodes, sp., Verrill, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool 1864, p. 38. * Branches virgate, subparattel, inosculating. 72. Melitella elongata. B.M.
Coral fan-shaped ; joints cylindrical, elongate ; internodes swollen ; orange; branches virgate, subparallel, much divided; brauchlets slender, compressed, sometimes inosculating ; joints of the branchlets very long, slender, compressed.
? Isis ochracea (ramorum summitates), Esper, Pflanz. t. 4 A. f. 2, 4, 5 (not 3).
Melitella elongata, Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 485,; Verrill, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. p. 38.
Hob. Singapore.
This species is very like Melitcea oclimcea, but the cells are much more numerous and crowded, and the axis is solid and calcareous. Esper's figures somewhat represent this species ; but the cells are not sufficiently crowded and numerous in figs. 4 & 5. The lateral groove is distinctly marked on the outer side, and more or less indistinctly so on the uppersides of the branches and branchlets.
73. Melitella flabellata. B.M.
Coral fan-shaped, ovate, longer than broad; joints slender, in the middle thicker.
Hal. ?
74. Melitella atrorubens. B.M.
Coral much branched, dichotomous, fan-like ; branches radial ; branchlets cylindrical. Bark dark, uniform deep brown red. Polypecells on the upperside and edges of the branchlets, with a hard, slightly raised, circular margin.
Melitea ochracea (part.), Lamx. MSS.
Hab. India. From M. Lamouroux's Collection.
75. Melitella linearis. B.M.
Coral very much branched, on a plane ; branchlets very slender, filiform, of a uniform size, coalescing at each joint, leaving oblong, elongate interspaces; articulations large, swollen, red. Axis white. Cells rather prominent, very few, rather far apart, one or two series on each side of the stem ?
Ha b. ? A fragment only.
Coral fan-shaped, white ; branches parallel, linear, very slender,
29. MELITELLA. 7 thread-like, regularly anastomosing ; joints elongate ; internodes swollen ; the bark with many imbedded spicules ; cells scattered. ** Branches divaricated, reticulatety inosculating. ' 76. Melitella retifera. B.M.
Stem thick ; branches nodose at the joints, flat, ramulose ; branchlets divaricated, flexuous, rather reticulated, and very closely warty, frequently anastomosed, articulations remote or deficient on the twigs, very apparent on the branches, and close together on the stem. Bark purple, or yellow with purple spots, or orange. Polype-cells large, conical.
Isis aurantia, Esper, Suppl. ii. t. 9.
Isis coccinea, Esper, Suppl. ii. t. 10.
Melitsea retifera, Lamk. Mem. \. p. 412, Hist. ed. 2. ii. p. 473 ; Lamx. Polyp. Flex. p. 463 ; Ehrenb. Corall p. 131 ; Gray, P. Z. S. 1857, p. 284, 1859, p. 486; Dana, Exp. p. 683; Kolliker, Ic. Hist. p. 142, 1. 19. f. 38, 39.
Mopsella aurantia, Verritt, Mus. Comp. Zool. p. 38. Melitea retifera, Warne, Corallina, p. 231.
Melithgea retifera, Milne-Edw. Corall. i. p. 200. Hob. Indian Ocean; Australia (Garret).
77. Melitella textiformis. B.M.
"Stem short, knotty, dividing considerably into very slender, warty, anastomosing twigs, leaving lengthened meshes." — Lamx. Melita3a textiformis, Lamk. Mem. Mus. \. p. 412 ; Lamx. Polyp. Flex. p. 465, 1. 19. f. 1 ; Ehrenb. Corall. p. 131 ; Gray, P. Z. S. 1857, p. 285. Melithaea textiformis, Milne-Edw. Corall. i. p. 201. Melitea textiformis, Warne, Corallina, p. 231, 1. 19. f. 1. Melitea retifera, var. ?, Dana, Zooph. p. 683. Mopsella textiformis, Verrill, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. p. 38. Hob. South Seas.
78. Melitella coccinea. B.M.
Small, variously branched; branches very slender, tortuous, divaricated ; branches diverging and anastomosed together ; articulationsobsolete, contorted; cells scattered, conical. Isis coccinea, Ellis $ Solander, Zooph. p. 107, t. 12. f. 5 ; Gmel S. N. p. 3794 ; Esper, i. t. 3A. f. 5 (cop. Ellis). Melitaea coccinea, Lamk. Mem. Mus. i. p. 413, Hist. ii. n. 4 ; Ehrenb. Corall. p. 131 ; Kolliker, Ic. Hist. p. 142, t. 15. f. 9, t. 16. f. 1, 2 ; Dana, Exp. p. 683 ; Gray, P. Z. S. 1857, p. 284, 1859, p. 486. MelitEea Rissoi, Lamx. Polyp. Flex. p. 463 ; Expos. Method. Polyp. p. 38, 1. 12. f. 5 (from Ellis).
Melitea Rissoi, Warne, Corallina, p. 231.
Melithaea coccinea, Milne-Edw. Corall. i. p. 200. Hob. India ; New Holland.
" Varies yellow, buff, rose-red, and scarlet colours." — Dana. 79. Melitella japonica.
Coral low, spreading, dichotomous, branching, nearly on a plane ;
8 MOPSELLAD2E.
branches slender, diverging at an angle of about 45°, obtuse at the ends. Cells rounded, papilliform, rather large, crowded. Colour of all observed vermilion red, with yellow polypes. Mopsella japonica, Verrill, Proc. Essex Inst. 1865. Hob. Japan (/Sameda).
Nearly allied to M. coccinea (Isis cocdnea, Ellis & Solander) ; but the branchlets do not coalesce, as in those species, and spread much less abruptly. The cells also are considerably larger. 30. ACABAKIA.
The coral very slender, branched, dichotomous, expanded in a plane ; branches and branchlets very slender, compressed ; with short, swollen internodes, more prominent on the older stems. Bark thin, hard, smooth. Cells short, broad, subcylindrical, truncated, in a single series on each edge of the branches and branchlets, rather close together. Axis calcareous, solid, red, longitudinally grooved ; internodes short, swollen, spongy.
Acabaria, Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 484 j Ann. $ Mag. Nat. Hist. 1868, ii. p. 444.
80. Acabaria divaricata. B.M.
Coral tree-like. Bark - ? Axis very slender, thread-like (not | line thick) ; joints elongate, smooth, pale red. Articulations only slightly swollen, spongy ; the branches divaricating, rather rounded at origin.
Acabaria divaricata, Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 484 ; Ann. $ Mag. Nat. Hob. Australia (Jukes, no. 2787).
Fig. 1.
Acabaria divaricata.
32. MOPSELLA. 9 31. ANICELLA.
Coral fan-like, dichotomously branched ; branches separate, divaricating in the same plane, arising from the short rather sunken joints. Bark thin, hard, smooth, longitudinally grooved. Cells minute, subcylindridal, short, produced in a narrow alternating series on each edge of the branches and branchlets. Axis calcareous, solid, with longitudinal grooves ; internodes very short, contracted, cork-like.
Anicella, Gray, Ann. fy Mag. Nat. Hist. 1868, ii. p. 445. Hal. ?
Like Melithcea, but the polype-cells small, prominent, and in a single lateral series.
It agrees with Mopsea in the joints being short and contracted ; but they are cork-like, as in the younger branches of Melitella, and horny.
81. Anicella australis. B.M.
Coral red, growing in one plane; the stem distinctly jointed; the branchlets slender, with the joints very inconspicuous. Anicella australis, Gray, Ann. $ Mag. Nat. Hist. 1868, ii. p. 445, f. 4. Hob. Port Essington (Jukes}.
Fig. 2.
Anicella australis.
II. Coral erect, shrub-like, forked.
32. MOPSELLA.
Coral tree-like, dichotomously branched ; branches diverging from the swollen spongy joints. Axis articulated ; segments elongated,
10 MOPSELLAD2E.
stony, with short swollen hard and porous joints. Base of the axis expanded, discoid, not stellate, lobed. Bark permanent, granular, with scattered spicula. Cells prominent on all sides of the branchlets, and scattered on the branches.
Mopsella, Gray, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 284, 1859, p. 486. " I am unable to find any generic difference between M. dichotoma, which is the type of Mopsella, Gray, and those subsequently referred by him to the genus Melitella ; and I have, therefore, united the two genera." — Verrill.
82. Mopsella dichotoma. B.M.
Coral branched, dichotomous, filiform, diffused, smooth, striated ; internodes short, swollen, reddish.
Hippuris coralloides cornea, Petiver, Gaz. t. 3. f. 10 (with bark). Isis dichotoma, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 10, p. 799 ; Gmel. S. N. p. 3793 ; Pallas, Zooph. p. 229; Esper, i. t. 5, 1. 11. f. 4, 5; Lamk. Hist. ed. 2. ii. p. 475, n. 3, Mem. Mus. i. p. 418; Herm. Naturf. xv. p. 135, t. 5. f. 1 (barked) ; Schweigger, Beob. no. 10, Handb. p. 434. Mopsea dichotoma, Lamx. Polyp. Flex. 1816, p. 466 ; Dana, Exp. p. 678 (not Seba, t. 106. f. 4); Milne-Edw. $ Haime, Corall. i. p. 197; Kolliker, Ic. Hist. p. 142, 1. 15. f. 8-10, 1. 19. f. 25. Mopsella dichotoma, Gray, P. Z. S. 1857, p. 284, 1859, p. 486 ; Ehrenb. Corall. p. 131 ; Verrill, Bull Mus. Comp. Zool. p. 38. " Polype-cells mamilliform on the upper, tuberculose on the middle, and superficial on the lower branches." — Lamk., Lamx. 1. c. p. 468. Hob. Cape of Good Hope. With uniform yellow bark (apices deficient).
83. Mopsella erythracea.
Shrub-like, forked; warts scattered. Axis reddish ; joints roundish, longitudinally grooved ; knots slightly tumid. Isis erythrus, Milne-Edw. in Lamk. Hist. ed. 2. ii. p. 477. Mopsea erythraea, Ehrenb. Corall. p. 131 ; Dana, Exp. p. 679 ; Milne- Edw. & Haime, Corall. i. p. 198.
Mopsea erythracea, Kolliker, Ic. Hist. p. 142, 1. 19. f. 43, 44, 1. 16. f. 7. Hob. Red Sea.
" Very like J. gracilis, but branches much more slender. Bark red ; polypes while." — Milne- Edwards, I. c.
84. Mopsella tenella.
Fruticose, 3 inches high, deep scarlet, much branched; branches and branchlets very slender, in no part a line thick, flexuous ; joints 3 to 8 lines long; cortex verrucose ; verruca small (| line broad), not at all ascending. Polypes bright yellow. Axis calcareous, nearly smooth.
Melitsea ? tenella, Dana, Exp. p. 683.
Melitella? tenella, Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 486. Melithsea tenella, Milne-Edw. Corall. i. p. 201. Mopsella tenella, Verrill, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. p. 39. Hob. Sandwich Islands.
33. CLATHEARIA. 11 "More slender than any of the preceding; branches not on a plane, and rarely coalescing. Axis pale red." — Dana. 85. Mopsella gracilis. B.M.
Coral very slender, thread-like ; joints elongate, slender, pale red ; articulations only slightly swollen ; branches divaricating, the first rather rounded at the base.
Mopsella gracilis, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1859, p. 486. Hab. ?
33. CLATHRARIA.
Coral shrub-like ; branches cylindrical, erect, tortuous, interosculating, of nearly equal thickness ; branchlets, some free, blunt. Bark thin, granular. Cells small, immersed, nearly equally scattered on all sides of the branches ; buds and branches from the swollen joints ; joints elongate, white, longitudinally striated ; internodes red, spongy. Clathraria, Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 486. 86. Clathraria rubrinodis.
Coral-branches cylindrical, nearly of equal thickness. Clathraria rubrinodis, Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 486. Mopsea bicolor, Kott. Icones Hist. p. 142, t. 19. f. 42. Hab. ?
Fig. 3.
B.M.
Clathraria ruhnnodis.
12 87. Clathraria acuta. B.M.
Coral-branches tapering ; branchlets acute.
Hab. ?
Fam. 8. TRINELLADJE.
Coral much branched, expanded, fan-like, on a plane. Bark thin, with a very large number of small slender spicules. Bark and polypes with rough minute diverging spicules. Polype-cells on all sides of the branchlets, and scattered over the branches ; prominent, broad, and depressed or elongate, and cylindrical. Axis calcareous. Joints hard, solid, longitudinally striated, with indistinct, slightly contracted articulations, which are cork-like and pierced with a number of tubular canals when deposited, but are soon covered with a white, hard, solid coat like the joints ; branches from the short stony joints.
34. TRINELLA.
Coral branched, fan -like; branches furcate; branchlets subpinnate, diverging ; terminal branchlets with a series of conical projections on each of the two edges, the last joint compressed, threelobed. The bark thin. Polype-cells on the terminal branchlets in two lateral series, alternating with the central marginal projections, scattered on the branches and main stem. Cells circular ; margin slightly raised, covered with radiating spicules and a central depression. Axis white, solid, hard, calcareous, with very indistinctly marked, slightly contracted, short internodes ; internodes hard, with small tubular canals.
88. Trinella Swinhoei. B.M.
Hob. Formosa (Swinhoe).
Fig. 4.
Trinella Swinhoei.