230 THE SPONGES OF THE WEST-CENTRAL PACIFIC 



FAMILY SOLLASELLIDAE Lendenfeld 

 GENUS OXEOSARCODEA, new 



The genus is here erected in the family Sollasellidae to receive as geno- 

 type the following new species or Oxcosarcodea oinops. It is characterized by 

 having a spiculation of only oxeas ; but it is especially peculiar because of the 

 jelly basis of the sponge, a structure strongly reminiscent of sponges which 

 are found in the order Carnosa. All in this latter order, however, possess 

 asters. Within the family Sollasellidae, the genus Sarcomella Schmidt, 1868, 

 page 1, type S. medusa, (from the Mediterranean) according to Schmidt's 

 description would be a great deal like the present sponge, but Topsent, 1938, 

 page 16, redescribes Schmidt's material as having only rather small oxeas. 

 Furthermore, both Schmidt and Topsent agree that there was a corticate 

 structure present in Sarcomella, which is absent from Oxeosarcodea. 



The generic name selected refers, first, to the spiculation of oxeas, deriv- 

 ed from the Greek word for "sharp pointed," and, second, from the Greek 

 word for "flesh." 



Oxeosarcodea oinops, new 



Text Figure No. 158 



This species is here represented by the following : 

 U.S.N.M. No. 22982, My No. M. 359, collected July 5, 1949, by diver in the 

 miniature lagoon in the south corner of the lagoon at Ebon Atoll. The 

 depth was 2 meters, and the substrate was dead coral. Several other 

 specimens, dubiously of the same species, were observed in the immed- 

 iate vicinity. These were difficult to compare with the specimen which is 

 here used as type, because of their small size. The type specimen is 4 cm 

 high and 9 cm in diameter, massive in shape. 



Text Figure No. 158. Spicule (oxea) of Oxeosarcodea oinops, X 182. 



The exterior color in life was port wine red. This color extended only a 

 few fi deep into the sponge, the entire endosome being very pale drab. The red 

 color faded very little when placed in alcohol, but the alcohol was turned 

 green. The consistency was between that of jelly and that of cheese. 



The surface is uneven and might be called micro-conulose. The pores 

 are 135 ju, to 270 ll in diameter and are very close together, often with parti- 

 tions narrower than the diameter of the pores themselves. The oscules are 

 very few, only one certain oscule could be found ; this was 5 mm in diameter. 



There is no separable ectosome, the jelly of the endosome merely stops 

 without any subdermal spaces. The endosome consists primarily of a dense 



