THE SPONGES OF THE WEST-CENTRAL PACIFIC 61 



Text Figure No. 35. Two of the spicules (oxea) of Haliclona korema, X 781. 



The color in life was dull, dark green, and the consistency fragile and 

 slightly spongy. 



The surface is somewhat velvet-like but otherwise typical of the family 

 Haliclonidae. The pores are microscopic and contractile. The oscules are 

 about 1 mm in diameter and 1 cm apart and scattered. 



The ectosome is nonexistent ; and the endosome, utterly unlike that of 

 koremella, is dense and full of isodictyal reticulation. Here and there a 

 central hollow, almost like a cloaca, may be found. 



As mentioned above, the skeleton consists of an isodictyal reticulation 

 of rather large oxeas, 4 ll by 112 ll to 5 jx by 110 ll in dimensions. A very 

 few are as thick as 6 ll. There are no fibers, not even any definite spicule 

 tracts. In only very few places are spicules aggregated even into bundles. 



A very curious situation obtains in comparing this species korema with 

 the preceding or koremella, inasmuch as each occurred in the same general 

 vicinity. The shape of the two species is remarkably similar; and the color 

 is somewhat similar, although koremella is blue to blue-green and korema is 

 definitely green. Internally the two species are so utterly different that one 

 might argue that they should belong in different genera. They represent ab- 

 solutely two extremes of variation within the genus Haliclona. Furthermore, 

 the spicules are extremely different. Many species of the genus Haliclona 

 have a spiculation much like that of korema, but all have some points of 

 difference. For example, there is the species which was first described as 

 Reniera fryetti by Dendy, 1895, page 238, from eastern Australia. Its 

 spicules are like those of korema but are sometimes arranged into tracts. The 

 pores are grouped into sieves ; the general shape is erect, thick, and flabellate ; 

 and the color is brown instead of green. Korema may be regarded as a 

 well distinguished species of the genus Haliclona. 



Four specimens from Bikini are referred here with reservations. 

 No data was available for them as to the color in life. It is my considered 

 opinion that within the genus Haliclona the color in life has considerable 

 taxonomic significance. The four do not fit nicely any other species, how- 

 ever; and they exhibit no difference from korema, insofar as they can be 

 studied. 



The species' name is derived from a Greek word meaning "mop," and 

 refers to the mop-like structure of the colony. 



