REPORT ON THE HEXACTINELLIDA. 259 



dermal skeleton. No marginalia are preserved. In the thick beard-like shreds which here 

 and there still project from the base, numerous anchors occur, of the same form as those of 

 PoUopogoti amadou, with a shaft which may measure 10 cm. or more, while the slightly 

 forward-curved ends of the two transverse teeth are separated from one another by about 

 0'5 mm. (PI. XL VIII. fig. 14, a). The pointed upper end of the anchor shaft, which is 

 buried in the sponge body, frequently bears several short, scattered, downward-directed, 

 lateral barbs (PI. XLVIII. fig. 14, h). In PL XLVIII. fig. 13, I have figured a remark- 

 able abnormal form of anchor structure. 



Subfamily 2. Semperellin^, F. E. Schulze. 

 Genus Semperella, Gray (Pis. LL, LIL). 



1868. Semper, VerhandJ. der Wiirzb. Gesellsch., vol i. p. 29 (Hyalonema schuUzei). 



1868. Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 373 (Semperella). 



1868. Herklots and Marshall, Arch. Neerland. d. sc. nat., iii. p. 435 {Hijalothauma lu/lekingii). 



1872. Carter, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist, vol. x. p. 110. 



1872. Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. x. p. 131. 



1872. Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. x. p. 76 {Meyerina claviformis). 



1873. Carter, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xL p. 275. 



1873. Carter, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol xii. p. 349. 



1874. Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xiii. p. 284. 



1875. Carter, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xvi. p. 200. 



1875. Marshall, Zeitschr. f. wiss. ZooL, Suppl., Bd. xxv. 



1876. Marshall, Zeitschr. f. wiss. Zool, Bd. xsvii. 



1877. Miers, Journ. Linn. See. Lond. (Zool), vol. xiii. p. 506. 



History. — In 1868 Semper described under the title Hyalonema schuUzei a Philippine 

 sponge, resembling in size and form Euplectella aspergillum.^ Semper's preliminary 

 note was to the following effect : — "Hyalonema SchuUzei, S. resembles in form and size 

 Euplectella aspergillum. The root-fibres, which are either smooth or serrate, di^^de 

 towards the sponge body into single bundles. They traverse the latter both internally 

 and superficially, becoming connected with the main framework in the same way as do 

 the long root fibres of Euplectella. Cruciate spicules of many kinds are united with 

 these long strands of fibres, forming sometimes a very dense and sometimes a loose net- 

 work, which is penetrated in all directions by the large canals of the sponge. The com- 

 paratively wide excurrent appertures occur irregularly over the whole sponge, and are 

 frequently associated with tufts of fine, almost silk-like fibres. On several regions of the 

 somewhat injured surface, a fine network with wide rectangular meshes may be observed. 

 The whole sponge framework is, as in all true Hyalonemata, composed of free fibres or 



'■ VerhandL phys.-Tned. Gesdhck. Wiirzhurg, vol. i. p. 29, 1868. 



