116 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



neighbourhood of Grenada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Bequia. He speaks of this 

 new species as follows : — " It occurs in two varieties ; the one resembles a shallow or but 

 moderately deep cup, which is provided inferiorly with a rounded or short, often 

 somewhat irregularly twisted, pointed stalk ; the other is sack-like, with an irregular 

 margin, with irregular pocket-like divisions and excavations, which are separated by 

 somewhat thin lappet-like partitions, just like a beggar's sack. The latter forms are a 

 foot in length and seem to be sunk in the mud up to the upper margin." In a netted 

 covering-layer, which is particularly well develojDcd in the beaker-like variety, 0. 

 Schmidt found fir-tree-like spicules. " On the margin of the beaker-like variety the 

 covering-layer usually projects as a plaited fringe, and extends from the outer towards 

 the inner surface. Above this there projects a dense row of imperfectly developed 

 hexradiate spicules, and needles with an axial cross. The whole body is unusually rich 

 in double ' quirls,' ^ which vary greatly in dimensions and in individual form." 



Oscar Schmidt notes especially that although Asconema kentii agrees completely in 

 the form, consistence, and especially in the felt-like condition of its walls with Asconema 

 setubalense, Kent, the agreement by no means extends to the spicules. 



The dried specimen of this species was kindly lent to me by Oscar Schmidt, and is 

 figured in PI. XXX. fig. 9. That it does not belong to the genus Asconema, but to 

 Hyalonema, will be pointed out in the detailed description of the characteristics of the 

 species Hyalonema hentii, which will be given below. 



In a short report on the voyages of the French ships " Travailleur " and " Talisman," 

 Filhol ^ gives a woodcut and the following notices of Asconema setubalense : — 

 ' L' Asconema setubalense n'avait ete trouve jusqu'au voyage du Talisman que siu- les 

 cotes du Portugal. Lors de la campagne de ce dernier bateau, nous I'avons recueilli sur 

 les cotes du Maroc, au voisinage du cap Bojador, par 410 metres. Les deux exemplaires 

 que nous en avons obtenus vivaient fixes par leur base sur des roches ou sur des coraux 

 (Lophohelia) dont le chalut contenait de nombreux debris." And on p. 289 : — " Les 

 Asconema ont ete trouvees avec les Aphrocallistes," 



The genus contains only one species. 



Asconema setubalense, Saville Kent (PI. XXI). 



A thin-walled cup in which the wide superior opening is surrounded by a simple, 

 smooth, thin margin, while the narrowed inferior extremity seems to be firmly fixed. 

 Among the sponges of the expedition of H.M.S. "Triton," which were entrusted to me 

 for review, I observed the fragment figured in PL XXI. fig. 1, and some small 

 specimens of a Hexactinellid, which, after comparison with Kent's original in the 



' Quirl = a short round stick provided with a toothed disc on one extremity. 

 2 La vie au fond des mers, p. 285, fig. xcii., 1885. 



