REPORT ON THE MONAXONIDA. 187 



The species may be readily recognised by its very characteristic external appearance. 

 Localities. — St. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands ; shallow water. Two specimens. 

 Harbour, St. Vincent, July 1873 ; depth, 7 to 30 fathoms. One specimen. 



Axinella (f) tubulosa, Eidley and Dendy (PI. XXXVIII. fig. 4). 



1886. Axinella (?) tubulosa, Ridley and Dendy, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, vol. x\dii. p. 482. 



Sponge (PL XXXVIII. fig. 4) erect, tubular ; tubes either open at the top or closed, 

 finger-like, the latter probably young forms of the former. There is only one small 

 specimen in the collection, consisting of one broad, tubular process, 17 mm. wide, and 

 widely open at the summit, and one narrow, closed, digitate tube 6 to 8 mm. wide ; 

 both arising from a common basal portion. Height of specimen 50 mm. Colour in 

 spirit greyish-yellow. Texture fairly firm. Surface uneven, pitted and rather cor- 

 rugated. Oscula small, numerous on the inner surface of the wide, open tube. 



Skeleton. — Extremely vague and confused, with no distinct fibre, consisting of a loose, 

 irregular reticulation of large, stout, stylote spicules, with small slender styli in loose 

 brushes near the surface and also scattered about. Around the mouth of the wide tube 

 is a narrow, delicate, membranous collar, supported solely by the slender stylote spicules. 



Spicules. — Megasclera; smooth styli. (l) Large and stout, more or less bent, fairly 

 gradually sharp pointed ; size about 0"87 by 0'03 mm., thickest in the centre. (2) 

 Similar but much shorter and slenderer styli, size about 0'45 by 0'009 mm. 



The most interesting feature about this species is its tubular form; a character, which, 

 so far as is known to us, is hitherto unparalleled amongst the Axinellida3, except in 

 Schmidt's " Auletta sycinularia;"^ that sponge is, however, regularly ramose instead 

 of merely lobose, like the present species. 



Locality.— ^tuiion 320, February 14, 1876; lat. 37° 17' S., long. 53° 52' W.; oft" 

 the Rio de la Plata ; depth, 600 fathoms ; bottom, green sand ; bottom temperature, 

 37°'2. One specimen. 



Axinella (?) paradoxa, Ridley and Dendy (PL XXV. fig. 4). 



1886. Axinella {^) paradoxa, Eidley and Dendy, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, vol. xviii. 



p. 482. 



Sponge (PL XXV. fig. 4) sessile, massively lobate ; height of single specimen present 

 about 25 mm. Colour in spirit pale, greyish-yellow. Texture india-rubber-like, with a 

 firm, gelatinous ectosome ; internally fibrous. Surface glabrous, but conulose. The 

 conuli are projections caused by the vertically ascending skeleton columns ; hence they 

 occur chiefly on the summits of the lobes, while the sides are rather ridged or grooved. 



1 Spong. Atlant. Gebiet., p. 45, pi. iv. fig. 5. This sponge Ls evidently an A.xiuellid, as is shown by Sclimidl'.i 

 figures of the spicules. 



