THE SPONGES OF THE WEST-CENTRAL PACIFIC 141 



The exterior color in life was gray to dull drab, but the endosome varied 

 from dull rosy pink to dull red. The consistency was stiffly spongy. 



The surface is conulose with conules 2 to 3 mm high and 3 mm apart. 

 The pores were all closed during the process of collection. Oscules often 

 are missing, but in a few specimens they were noticed before they closed. 

 They seemed as much as 3 mm in diameter and 2 to 4 cm apart. In life they 

 are often very conspicuous, and it may be noticed that they branch immedi- 

 ately below the surface into relatively large diverging canals. 



The ectosome is characterized by a concentration of protoplasmic ma- 

 terial but has no sharp termination. It blends into the endosome. The endo- 

 some is permeated by crude, or irregular shaped, fibers and does not consist 

 of a neat network. 



The skeleton consists of abundant smooth styles which are united, and 

 in some cases are encased by a certain amount of spongin. These vary in 

 size from 5 //, by 180 ^ to 13 /x by 228 \x. In fact, a very few are even as 

 small as 2.5 /x by 92 /x. The latter are almost certainly developmental forms, 

 however. The echinating spicules are acanthostyles with rather large, blunt 

 spines. Total spicule dimensions are 4 ti by 56 ti to 7 fi by 56 fx. The micro- 

 scleres include filiform toxas, 0.5 /a by 150 [x, and palmate anisochelas, 13 /x 

 to 14 [a in length. 



This species was described as Clathria fasticulata by Wilson, 1925, page 

 442, from the Philippines. 



Clathria abietina (Lamarck) de Laubenfels 



Text Figure No. 90 



This species is here represented by the following : 

 U.S.N.M. No. 23090, My No. M. 472, collected August 13, 1949, by diver 



in the western portion of the Truk lagoon in Lemotol Bay. The depth 



was 4 meters, and the substrate was dead coral. 

 U.S.N.M. No. 22808, My No. N. 014, collected June 5, 1946, by W. R. 



Taylor at Eniwetok Atoll in the center of the lagoon, 8 kilometers north 



of the south anchorage. This was dredged at a depth of 35 meters. 



This species is exceedingly irregular in shape. The specimen from 

 Truk was 4 cm in diameter and 14 cm high. 



The color in life was a brown which may be described as caramel. Most 

 of the interior was rather dull colored. About 1 mm below the surface and 

 extending around the entire sponge was a subcutaneous layer of fairly bright 

 red color. This is a definitely unusual characteristic. The consistency was 

 stiffly spongy. 



The surface may be said to be conulose, with conules 2 mm high and 

 4 mm apart; but these conules are placed upon projections which might be 

 described as super-conules so that the whole sponge has, as noted above, an 



