SOME XENIID ALCYONARIANS FROM JAPAN AND ADJACENT LOCALITIES

Abstract

Very little of the Alcyonarian fauna of Japan has been investigated. We have only two records of the occurrence of species belonging to the family Xeniidae from our seas, namely Suensonia mollis recorded by BRUNDIN (1896) from Korea Strait, obviously a member of Cespitularia, and Anthelia japonica recorded by KUKENTHAL (1906) from Suruga Bay, as belonging to Cornulariidae. The present paper deals with a small collection of Xeniid alcyonarians, and is intended to contribute something to our present meagre knowledge on the Alcyonarian fauna of Japan and neighboring waters. Seven species belonging to four genera have come to my examination, of which one seems to be new to science. The majority, with a single exception, were collected by myself from various places in Japan, Formosa and Palao. I express my gratitude to Dr. T. KOMAI for his kind guidance and incessant encouragement as well as for the gift of valuable specimens obtained by him. The expense was defrayed out of a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Scientific Research.