TKTKAA'oXIDA. 5 



SpiculeS. .Megascleres. 1. Large oxeas, !) 7 X 0' 081 mm. 



2. Smaller oxeas, scattered in the choanosome, 540 to 1350/x in length. 



3. Cortical oxeas (XI. 8), 770 x 30 n, straight, fusiform. 



4. Anatriaenes of three kinds: a. (XI. 9) Cladi 170 n long x 20 p thick at 

 base, slender, sharp-pointed, chorda llOju; rhabdome, about 12mm. long, thick at 

 junction with cladome, then tapering, again thickening, and finally terminating in a 

 filiform extremity. 



!>. (XI. 11) Cladome with thick conical dadi, 140 X 35 p., chorda 60 //. ; rhabdome 

 with a thick neck, and then nearly uniform till it tapers to a filiform extremity. 



c. (XI. 10) Cladome with very long, straight, slender cladi, 150 x 10 p, nearlv 

 parallel with, or making an angle of, about 10 with the rhabdome, chorda only 31 p. : 

 rhabdome slender (of uncertain length). 



5. Protriaenes. Rare, usually with three slender equal cladi, 90 /A long ; rhabdome 

 of nearly uniform diameter : but slightly diminishing near the cladome. 



G. Triehodal protriaeues, usually (especially in the case of those forming the inner 

 oscular fringe) with one ray greatly prolonged to 140 p. or more, the other two having 

 almost disappeared ; rhabdome slightly thickened at cladal origin. 



7. Sigmata, 14 - 25 to 15 /j. long, 0'75/x thick, and 12'3/n broad in the c aspect, 

 with slightly and finely granulated surface. 



There are three specimens of this sponge, the largest (XI. 4) being 12 cm. 

 in total length and 5 '2 cm. in breadth, with a root-tuft 3' 5 cm. in length: 

 the second specimen (XL 5) is oval, 2'9 cm. long and 1'7 cm. broad, and the smallest 

 is U! x 12 mm. 



The colour of the first two is dirty gray, and that of the last pale but}'. 



The scale-like, occasionally over-lapping, verrucae, attain a height o|' 2 nun., and 

 a breadth at the base of 4 mm. 



The oscule is oval-shaped, edged with a barely visible fringe of tridiodal 

 protriaenes ; it measures, in the large specimen, 7'5 x 5 mm. 



The skeleton. The radiating fibres only vcrv rarely project beyond the surface : 

 near the oscule are a few tufts of oxeas. Uver the rest of the surface of the sponge, 

 the dermal membrane covers over the summits of the verrucae, the distal points of 

 oxeas and the cladomes of anatriaeues showing through ; medium-sized in large 

 protriaenes, so abundant in < 'r<<n'h-llii smjittii. are almost absent from the two lnri;e 

 specimens of the present species, though iu the smallest specimen there is one to each 

 conule. Tufts of trichodal protriaeues are present in abundance. 



The ectOSOme. <>n section, the ectosome is scarcely differentiate,! from the 

 choanosome, excepting that sub-dermal spaces are visible just beneath the dermal 

 membrane. 



The cortical oxeas are more densely packed than in the preceding species. 



A tangential section shows the pores in longitudinal areas between the densely 

 serried rows of cortical oxeas, and fan-like tufts of trichodal protriaeues supporting the 



