PORIFERA. II. 51 



were taken. The stations are situated between the Faroe Islands and Iceland, south of Iceland and 

 in the Denmark Strait at the eastern coast of Greenland. The depths vary from 90—975 fathoms; 

 the bottom temperatures on the stations were from i°6 til 7°o C. Further I have before me one speci- 

 men from the northwestern coast of Norway, Lyngen, depth 160 fathoms (O. Nordgaard). 



Gcogr. distr. The species is further known from the following localities; off Bukenfjord and 

 Haugesund, depth 106— 115 fathoms (Schmidt 1. c.) ; Tronhjem Fjord (Arneseu I.e.); the Barent Sea, 

 depth 220 fathoms (Vosmaer); the east coast of Greenland, depth 130 fathoms (Fristedt); the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence, depth 200 fathoms (Lambe). Accordingly the species is a northern one, and has hitherto 

 been found from about 23° 20' Long. E. to about 65 Long. W., and between 50 and 74° 10' Lat. N. As 

 is commonly the case, it reaches considerably farther south at the American coast than at the Euro- 

 pean; thus at the coast of Norway it has only been obtained to about 59 Lat. N. 



2. A. bihamatifera Cart. 

 PI. II, Figs. 7—8. PI. XI, Fig. 1 a— g, Fig. 2. 

 1876. Espcria cupressiformis var. bihamatifera Carter, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 4, XVIII, 318, PI. XIII, 

 fig. 14, PI. XV, fig. 34 a-b. 



Sliorter or longer lateral branches pass off from the axis all round. The axial skeleton is dn<i- 

 ded into a number of fibres, bekveen which the fibres of the lateral branches are inserted ; outmost in 

 the axis a thin layer of spicules is found. Spicula: Megasclcra styli in the axis o-6j— roi""". subtylostyli 

 in the branches and, in small numbers, in the axis o-^S—o-'ji""". irregularly sinuous, finely spinulous 

 tylostvli in the coating of the stalk o-og—o-ig"""; microsclera of three forms, anisochelm pal mater of two 

 forms, the characteristic ones o-o/o — o-o//""". the large ones with polylobate lower end 0-051— <r 06/""", 

 sigmata o'o/<$ — o'oji""". 



This species in its outer form is very similar to the preceding one, but it is distinguished 

 from it by the fact that the lateral branches are always placed in several rows, and accordingly they 

 are not arranged along the two sides of the axis, but issue from all sides of it. It consists of an erect 

 axis, which, for a shorter or longer part of the upper end, carries lateral branches going off to all 

 sides. All the specimens are broken below, but a few of them seem to be fairly entire; the latter are 

 on the lower part of the stalk provided with quite short, irregularly placed lateral off-shoots forming 

 a kind of root. As in the preceding species the length of the branches may vary very much, and I 

 suppose that also here a contraction may take place. The greatest length of the branches is ca. n m "\ 

 and then they are very fine, on an average about o-i7 mm . They are found in decreasing lengths down 

 to quite short projections, which are then considerably thicker. The branches are directed somewhat 

 obliquely upward; when they are long they are generall)- directed upward in a curved manner. The 

 branches, as mentioned, pass off to all sides; but when they are of a certain length there is always 

 some difference between them, those along the two sides being somewhat longer than those on the 

 other parts of the axis. At the top the branches continue over the end of the axis, and seem here 

 always to be short. The stalk is all but cylindric; it tapers upward, and in its lower part, towards, 

 or quite up to, the branches it is covered with a layer provided with special spicules; in the speci- 



