208 CEYLON PEARL OYSTER REPORT. 



Spongelia, Nardo. 



Spongeliidse with a skeleton composed of distinct, but more or less arenif'erous, horny 

 fibres. 



Spongelia fragilis, Montagu, var. ramosa, Schulze. 



1879, Spongelia pallescens, sub-species fragilis, var. rarnosa, SCHULZE (71); 1889, Spongelia 

 fragilis, var. irregularis, Lendenfeld (66), pars. 



There is a single, partly macerated specimen of this variety in the collection. The 

 external form appears to have been loboso-digitate. The skeleton network is very 

 coarse, with rectangular meshes, and densely charged throughout with sand. The 

 soft tissues are very densely charged with chains of algae, probably Oseillana 

 sjiongelue. The large sac-shaped flagellate chambers measure up to about 0"1 millim. 

 in longer diameter. 



Under the name Spongelia fragilis, var. irregularis, Lendenfeld has already (66) 

 recorded a sponge from Ceylon which probably belongs to this variety, as he himself 

 admits that his var. irregularis partly corresponds with Schulze's var. ramosa. The 

 species, at any rate, appears to be cosmopolitan, if not the variety also. 



R.N. 307 (Ceylon seas). 



Spongelia elastica, var. lobosa, Schulze. 



1879, Spongelia pallescens, sub-species elastica, var. lobosa, Schut.ze (71); 1889, Spongelia 

 elastica, var, lobosa, Lendenfeld (66). 



There is one specimen of this variety in the collection, consisting of a massive, 

 columnar and slightly clathrous basal portion, giving off numerous short, irregular, 

 digitiform processes above. The surface is covered with acute conuli, larger and 

 further apart on the lower than on the upper portions of the sponge, varying from 

 about 0"5 millim. to 2'5 millims. in height. Between the conuli is stretched the 

 usual reticulate dermal membrane, and the lines of the dermal reticulation are 

 areniferous. The texture (in spirit) is soft and elastic and the colour pale greyish- 

 yellow. The specimen measures about 58 millims. in height by 40 millims. in 

 maximum diameter. The apices of the branches are commonly occupied by parasitic 

 barnacles, each enclosed in a cavity which opens to the exterior by a small terminal 

 aperture resembling a vent. 



The primary fibres of the skeleton, ending in the conuli, are abundantly charged 

 with foreign matter, chiefly sponge-spicules, while the connecting fibres are almost 

 free from foreign matter, and form a moderately close network. The canal-system 

 and histology agree closely with Schulze's classical description. The large, sac- 

 shaped flagellate chambers, about 0"08 millim. in maximum diameter, are imbedded in 

 a sparsely developed gelatinous ground substance. They have numerous prosopyles 

 and open directly by wide mouths into the exhalant canals. 



