263 



A REVISION OF THE MONAXONID SPECIES DE- 

 SCRIBED AS NEW IN LENDENFELD'S "CATA- 

 LOGUE OF THE SPONGES IN THE AUSTRALIAN 

 MUSEUM." Part i. 



By E. F. Hallmann, B.Sc, Linnean Macleay Fellow of the 

 Society in Zoology. 



(Plates xv.-xxiv.) 



Introduction. 



In view of the many serious inaccuracies found by Mr. White- 

 legge and myself in the portions, revised by us, of the '• Cata- 

 logue of the Sponges in the Australian Museum," and my further 

 discovery that, contrary to Mr. Whitelegge's assumption, the 

 specimens standing as the types of the species therein described 

 are not in every case to be relied upon as authentic, I have 

 deemed it advisable to continue much further my investigations 

 in regard to those species before proceeding with other work 

 intended for publication on Australian sponges. The results of 

 these investigations, in so far as they pertain to the Monaxonida, 

 it is the purpose of the present paper to set forth. 



The material upon which the revision has chiefly been based, 

 consists of the reputedly original specimens preserved in the Aus- 

 tralian Museum, and of sample-fragments of an incomplete 

 duplicate set of specimens belonging to the British Museum. 

 The correspondingly labelled specimens of the two sets, however, 

 are not always in agreement; and among the latter are included 

 examples of species which are not to be found in the existing 

 collection of the Australian Museum. At the same time, a 

 number of the Monaxonid species described in the Catalogue are 

 unrepresented in either set of examples. In the case of the 

 former specimens — all of which are labelled in Dr. Lendenfeld's 

 own handwriting— the original labels, as a rule, bear only 



