THE SPONGES OF THE WEST-CENTRAL PACIFIC 209 



the genus. Its location is known only as "Porcupine Station No. 82". A fourth 

 species was described as Ridleia dendii by de Laubenfels, 1934, page 10, from 

 the West Indies, which not only had spicules only 20 /a by 500 /x but was hard 

 where peleia is soft, and yellow where pcleia was pink. 



The specific name here selected is derived from the Hawaiian goddess 

 of volcanoes, Pele, because of the crater-like appearance of the specimen as 

 viewed in the field. 



GENUS TERPIOS Duchassaing & Michelotti 

 Terpios fugax Duchassaing & Michelotti 



Text Figure No. 142 



This species is here represented by the following : 

 U.S.N.M. No. 22951, My No. M. 324, collected June 24, 1949, by diver in the 



northwest portion of the lagoon near Jih Islet at Ailing-lap-lap Atoll. 



The depth was 5 meters, and the substrate was dead coral. 

 U.S.N.M. No. 22888, My No. M. 188, collected August 3, 1949, by diver in 



southwest Ponape (Kiti) near Toletek Islet, from a reef in the lagoon 



near the shore. The depth was 4 meters, and the substrate was dead coral. 



This species is a thin incrustation, less than 1 mm thick, and each patch 

 is usually not much larger than a postage stamp. Such patches, however, are 

 very common in many places, probably even in other islands and atolls than 

 the two here recorded. It would have been an impossibly time-consuming task 

 to study every one of the myriads of fingernail-sized incrusting sponges which 

 can readily be found on the branches of dead coral. 



The color in life was rich, dark blue, and the consistency was mediocre. 



The surface is smooth and lipostomous. 



The ectosome is not particularly developed, and the endosome is so thin 

 that little more can be said than that the chambers exist and spicules are chiefly 

 in confusion, but often with the points directly towards the surface. 



The skeleton consists of small distinctive megascleres, ranging from 2 fx 

 by 130 /a to 5 [x, by 300 /i but very often 3 ^ by 180 [x in dimensions. Some of 

 these definitely appear to be hexactinellid or pentactin spicules. One end is 

 pointed, but at the other end there are four blunt protrusions at right angles 

 to each other (pentactinal). In some cases a prolongation of the shaft extends 

 past this cross (hexactinal). 



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Text Figure No. 142. Spicules (hexactinellid or pentactinellid) of Terpios fugax, X 782. 



