﻿^^y/^ 



SPONGES.-HALLMANN. 



117 



III.— REPORT ON THE SPONGES. 



Part I. 



I. — Introduction. 



The Sponges which have so far been obtained by the 

 "Endea\our" consist ahnost exclusi\elv of MonaxoneUida and 

 Keratosa in approximately equal numbers. In this Report I 

 propose to deal only with the former of these ; the latter will 

 scarcely prove suitable for purposes of investigation unless 

 taken in conjunction with additional material, since in the 

 main they are preserved in a dry condition, and there are 

 among them altogether too few specimens of any one species. 

 Inasmuch as an extensive collection of well-preserved Keratosa 

 sponges, particularly from the Australian area, would un- 

 questionably be of extreme scientific value, it is greatly to be 

 hoped that the fullest advantage will be taken of the unique 

 opportunities provided by the trawling operations of the 

 "Endeavour" to bring together as large a number as possible 

 of these forms. 



In order to deal effectively with the material placed at my 

 disposal, it was found necessary, as a preliminary task, to 

 undertake the re-investigation of certain previously described 

 species, including more particularly a number of those which 

 were first described by Dr. R. von Lendenfeld in his "Descrip- 

 tive Catalogue of Sponges in the Australian Museum, "^ and 

 afterwards by Mr. T. Whitelegge in his "Report on Sponges 

 from the Coastal Beaches of New South Wales. "2 As a 

 result I find that, whereas the latter author is correct in 

 pronouncing the original descriptions of these species to be 

 in many instances inaccurate, yet he himself has committed a 

 number of serious errors, owing to a too hasty conclusion that 

 the specimens investigated were the actual types. This 

 explains the anomalous circumstance that the descriptions 

 which the two authors have given of certain species are 

 devoid of agreement in any essential particular. Unfortun- 

 ately, however, not all the discrepancies can be thus explained, 

 and considerable caution will be necessary in deciding par- 

 ticular cases. Mr. Whitelegge evidently proceeded on the 

 assumption that the specimen carrying the author's label must 

 be accepted unquestioningly, in preference to the description, 

 as the ultimate criterion of the species ; but, although such a 



1 8vo. Sydney, 1888. 



2 Whitelegge— Kec. Austr. Mus., iv.. 2, 1901. p. bo, pis. x.-xv 



