y •^■^^-\^/\^ BREVIORA seminri of Comparative Zoology Cambridge, Mass. Nove.mber 25, i;)59 Number 115 THE LEMON-COLORED PLEXAURIDS FROM THE WEST INDIES AND BRAZIL By Elisabeth Deiciimann Museuni of Comparative Zoology and F. M. Bayer United States National Museum In Kiikenthal's monograph of 1924 are listed two yellow plex-aurids, referred to different genera and each definitely falling outside the normal limits of the genus in which it is placed. These two forms are Plexaura flavida (Lamarck) — which, inci-dentally, also appears in a dark purple phase — and a species which, hitherto, most commonly has been listed as Eunicea humilis Milne Edwards and Haime. The latter, thanks to the junior author's delving into old, forgotten literature, has now been given the older name sulphurea Donovan. Lamarck's species appears to be common in the West Indies, from the northern shores of South America to the eastern coasts of Flori-da, but apparently it does not reach Bermuda (see Verrill, 1907, p. 261), while Donovan's species is one of the most characteristic elements of the Brazilian reef fauna, ranging from 7°S to 20° S latitude with a few, rather dubious, records from Curacao, Aruba, and San Bartholomew Island, in the West Indies. As the Museum of Comparative Zoology possesses a large amount of material of both forms, and since a number of con-fusing statements concerning them have crept into the literature, there seems good reason for revising these two species and allo-cating them to their proper place, and at the same time reviewing their history.
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