THE SPONGES OF THE WEST-CENTRAL PACIFIC 



139 



Text Figure No. 88. Spicules of Thalysias frondifera, X 782. A: Style from the fiber. 



B: Tylostyle, as between fibers and at the surface. C: Echinating acanthostyle. 



D: Raphide or toxa? E: Palmate isochela, side view. 



to 3 fi by 150 p. There are echinating spicules present, acanthostyles 6 /x by 

 46 [x. The microscleres include raphides 1 ll by 60 ll to 0.5 ll by 120 ll. 

 Some of these are slightly bent, indicating a little approach in the direction of 

 being toxas. There are also palmate isochelas only 10 ll long, and with very 

 narrow shovels. 



This species was described first as Halichondria frondifera by Bower- 

 bank, 1875, page 288, from the East Indian region. Specimens much more 

 like this one from Guam later were described by Dendy, 1889, page 85, as 

 Clathria corallitincta. These came from the Indian Ocean. Burton and Rao, 

 1932, page 337, drop corallitincta in synonymy to frondifera, and their 

 action is here followed, but with some question. 



GENUS CLATHRIA Schmidt 



This genus has undergone numerous vicissitudes of such a nature that 

 some discussion of them is here warranted. 



It was established by O. Schmidt, 1862, page 57, at once containing two 

 species. One of these had been first described as Spongia coralloides by 

 Olivi in 1792. This was definitely described by Schmidt as being a sponge 

 with fibers cored with smooth styles and echinated by smooth styles. Vos- 

 maer, 1885, page 356, discussed the genus and speaks of corralloides as the 

 "beispiel" or example thereof, and this has widely been considered a geno- 

 type designation. Actually, according to the International Rules of Zoologi- 

 cal Nomenclature, it is not such. On the basis of published descriptions, 

 coralloides is definitely of the genus Ophlitaspongia, and de Laubenfels, 1936, 

 page 122, therefore dropped the genus Clathria into synonymy to Ophlita- 

 spongia. 



At the time he established the genus, Schmidt also placed in it a second 

 species, which he called Clathria compressa; this was on page 58 of his 1862 

 treatise. In this place it is described very briefly and is quite unrecognizable. 

 However, Schmidt and others began referring to Clathria sponges characterized 

 by fibers cored with smooth styles, but echinated with acanthostyles. The 



