﻿SPONGES. -KALLMANN . 



293 



legge, belong to another and new species, for which, on 

 account of its structural peculiarity, I propose the name 

 anomala. The fact that the species was mistaken for E. 

 olahra, is sufficient indication of its ex- 

 ternal resemblance to species of Echino- 

 clathria. Its structure, however, differs p 



from that of EchinocJathria (and of Echino- 

 chalina s^Jahra) in two readily noticeable 

 respects : firstly — along the lines of junc- 

 tion of the reticulating lamellae there runs 

 (or, to put it in other words, along each of 

 their joined edges the lamellae are bounded 

 bv) a verv stout strand of spicules thinlv 

 ensheathed by spongin ; and, secondly — the 

 lamellae themselves, which are of membran- 

 ous thinness, are destitute of any support- 

 ing reticulation of main and connecting 

 fibres such as is found in the lamellae of 

 Echinoclathria, but are traversed merely bv 

 a verv few irregularlv interreticulating 

 fibres similar, except in point of stoutness, 

 to those which bound them. Consequentlv, 

 in the case of dry macerated (and some- 

 what damaged) specimens such as the 

 present are, the sponge appears as a loose 

 irregular reticulation of stout fibres with 

 meshes (which average about 3 mm. in 

 width) tympanized by thin membrane. In 

 their present condition, indeed, the speci- 

 mens might easily pass for washed-out 

 examples of some loosely reticulately- 

 fibred solid (i.e., not trabecular) sponge — 

 such, for example, as many species of 

 Mycale — with extraordinarily well-de- 

 veloped "interstitial membranes." 



Fig. 68 — Echino- 

 chalina anomala. a 

 Principal style. b 

 strongylote auxili- 

 ary spicules. 



Measurement of the spicules in all five 

 specimens gave approximately identical 

 values, the auxiliary spicules attaining a 



maximum size of 240 x 5 ji, and the principal, 200 x 9 |/ 

 (not 160 x 8 \i as stated by Whitelegge). 



The auxiliary spicules are not quite cylindrical, but gradu- 

 ally taper from base to apex. At their apical extremity, they 



