HOLASCELLA ANCORATA. 37 



tinguished in the Euplectellinae. The certain presence of discohexasters and 

 the probable absence of parietal apertures preclude the sponges described above 

 being placed in Euplectella. From the known species of Malacosaccus, which 

 are soft, flexible, and sac- and cup-shaped, they differ by being hard and brittle 

 narrow tubes. From all the known species of Holascus, except Holascus undu- 

 latus F. E. Schulze ^ and the species collected by the Challenger and mentioned 

 by F. E. Schulze- as Holascus sp., they differ by possessing discohexasters. 

 The spicules of H. undulatus described by F. E. Schulze {loc. cit., 1899, p. 17) as 

 discohexasters differ, however, considerably from the true discohexasters found 

 in the sponges described above and have by F. E. Schulze himself lately ^ been 

 declared to be calicocomes, and not discohexasters, so that this species also does 

 not appear to be aUied to the sponges above described. Their only closer allies 

 appear to be the species of Holascus referred to and the new Pacific species 

 described as Holascella ancorata, and H. euonyx. 



As they differ from all the hitherto described and named species of Holascus 

 by possessing discohexasters, hemidiscohexasters, or microdiscohexactines, and 

 as the absence or presence of such spicules should be considered as a difference 

 sufficient for generic distinction, I name the new genus Holascella, on account 

 of its similarity to and historic derivation from Holascus. 



From Holascus sp. Schulze and the sponge here described as Holascella 

 ancorata, Holascella taraxacum differs by being destitute of floricomes, and 

 from the latter also and from the sponge here described as Holascella euonyx by 

 the absence of discohexactines and hemidiscohexasters with large anchor-Uke, 

 terminal spine-verticils. From H. ancorata and H. euonyx it is also distin- 

 guished by its principals being mostly hexactines. 



Holascella ancorata, sp. nov. 

 Plate 23, figs. 4-25; Plate 24, figs. 1-9. 



One specimen of this species was trawled in the Eastern Tropical Pacific 

 at Station 4649 on 10 November, 1904; 5° 17' S., 85° 19.5' W.; depth 4086 m. 

 (2235 f.) ; it grew on a bottom of sticky, gray mud; the bottom-temperature was 

 35.4°. 



It has discomicroscleres with long, strongly recurved terminal spines 

 not joined at the base to a terminal tyle ("disc"). The end-rays (rays) of 



1 F. E. Schulze. Amerikanische Hexactinelliden, 1899, p. 15, taf. 3, figs. 1, 2. 



= F. E. Schulze. Kept. Voy. Challenger, 1887, 21, pi. 15, figs. 14-23. 



* F. E. Schulze. Hexactinellida. Ergeb. Deutsch. tiefsee-exped. , 1904, 4, p. 130, 131. 



