﻿SPONGES. HALLMAN.N. ,5- 



U)Oi. I'liDnohuliclidinlrid (iiislntHs (purs), W'hitflci^i^c, Rec. 

 Austi". Mus., i\., 2, 1901, p. <)0, pi. xl., tii^s. 14. 14a- 



{Echinom')}ni Uevi.s), W'hiteley^e, I.cc. cil., p. ()i, 

 p. 2\2. 



{('hitJifiti iJiticropdi'd), W'hitelei^i^e, Lac. cit., p. 91. 



jiSSS ? Not Cliitliriii luacropoi-Li, LendeniY-ld, ("at. Sponges- 

 Austr. Mus., 1888.] 



Fan)! variable, ranging from sub-massive aud plate- 

 like io clumsily rat}U)se. Oscula sDiall, distant ly scat- 

 tered, often situated (singly) on the apices of conical 

 prominences. A distinctive feature is the itrrcnigemoil 

 of the subdermal oscular ca)i<ds ; these becoine con- 

 spicuous o)d\' i)i the vicinity ot the oscula, each of a'/j/c/; 

 fornis a comnio)i arifice for several cainds ru)i}ii)ig N/c/'t 

 or less radiatingly towards it. Texture doise. Fibres 

 cored by oxea and acanthostyles, and moderately densely 

 echinated by the latter. Dermal skeleton reticulate. 

 Megascleres, nuixinium sizes: — (/. ) Oxea, /go .v 6 ji ; (/'/.)■ 

 principal acanthostvles, i8u x 8 yi ; dernnd aca^ifhostyles,. 

 IOC) X 6 ft. IsocheUc arcuatce, iti to 22 fi long. 



Introductory Remarks. — The original descriptions sta'te 

 that the coring spicules of the fibres are styli ; but with this 

 exception, the descriptions accord fairly well on the whole 

 with requirements, and there can scarcely be the slightest 

 doubt that the sponges under consideration are identical 

 with those to which Lendenfeld referred. The variety 

 is well represented in the Museum Collection, and among- the 

 specimens are quite a number bearing labels in Lendenfeld 's 

 writing. The specific name rubra, however, occurs in con- 

 nection with only one of these and, even so, in association w ith 

 the generic name Clathrissa. But Whitelegge has already 

 pointed out that a co-type specimen of E. rubra in the British 

 Museum is of the same species as E. levis, and the original 

 descriptions also point to the identity of the two. Moreoxer, 

 one is led to conclude that Lendenfeld himself subsequent!} 

 recognised their identity, since, included among the specimens 

 labelled by him E. levis, there are some which, like the original 

 specimens of E. rubra retain in alcohol a bright scarlet colour. 

 It is pretty certain, therefore, that E. rubra is correctly a 

 svnonvm of E. levis. 



On the other hand, the identification of Clathria macropora, 

 Ldf., with this species is slightly beyond reason, and one can 

 onlv assume, for the present, tiiat tht- "type" specimens ot 



