1898.] ON THE PEEFOBATE CORALS OP THE SOUTH PACIFIC. 257 the future a very considerable reduction in the species of this genus will also be necessary. Madrejpora itself is a genus with a very wide geographical distribution in shallow tropical waters, like Millepora. Its coralla are also subject to extraordinary varia-bility iu their form of growth, and the species have been founded on skeletal characters only. All the species, or many of them, may be good, but the classification of the genus must be considered to be unsatisfactory untU our knowledge of the anatomy of the polyps of the different varieties has been considerably extended. 2. On the Perforate Corals collected by the Author in the South Pacific. By J. Stanley Gardiner, M.A., Gonville and Caius College^ Cambridge. [Eeceived January 31, 1898.] (Plates XXIII. & XXIV.) Of the Perforate Corals obtained by me in the South Pacific I have been able to refer specimens to fifty-one species ; of these fifteen seem to me to be new. Three of these have already been described by Mr. Bernard in the British Museum Catalogue, and the characters of twelve are now given. I have so far as possible compared my specimens with those in the British Museum, and, although I have referred back to the original descriptions in nearly all cases, I give, for those genera of which the Museum has published a catalogue, simply one reference, namely to that cata-logue, by placing the number of the species in it after the name in parentheses. I am much indebted to Mr. Bernard for his assistance in comparing the Astrceopora and Turbinaria, and for writing the description of Montipora columnans. Prof. Jeffrey Bell, too, has kindly placed at my disposal every facility which the British Museum afEords. I. Genus Madbepoea. Madrepora Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. ed. x. p. 793 ; Duncan, Eev. Madrep. p. 183. The specimens of this genus in the collection are generally rather small, most of them having been obtained by diving or dredging. I have been able to refer specimens to 25 species, and in addition I have described 3 which I consider new. Prom Funafuti there are also fragments of two species from 30 fathoms, two from 20 f., and five from 6-8 f. : of these, four species seem to be new, but they are too small to attempt to describe. There are, too, a number of young colonies unidentified. Generally, on the reefs of Eotuma and Funafuti I found that, although certain species are locally very common, there is little ' Communicated by W. Bateson, F.E.S., F.Z.S. Peoc. Zool. Soc— 1898, No. XVII. 17
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