SPONGES FROM COASTAL BEACHES OF N. S. "WALES — "WHITELEGGE. 85 



coast of New South Wales are, however, more compact, and the 

 laminse are much stouter, at least in the deep-water specimens 

 which are washed up on the various beaches. Littoral forms, 

 such as occur at Jervis Bay, are flabellate, digitate, or clathrate. 

 Coastal specimens are usually in the form of massive rounded 

 clumps, consisting of two or more thick lamellae, with truncated 

 or evenly rounded margins, upon which the osculte are seated. 

 The surface, when perfect, is thinly coated with a white incrusta- 

 tion, consisting of foreign spicules, sand grains, and foraminifera. 

 The oscula are confined to the margins and the inner surfaces ; at 

 the sides they are substellate, on the rounded or angular margins 

 they are elliptic, and at the summit circular, often with narrow 

 transverse grooves between. The oscula vary from 1 to 5 mm. in 

 diameter, and the grooves rarely exceed about 1*5 mm. 



The type of Clathriopsamma Ivbosa, Lendenfeld, (No. 401), is a 

 spirit specimen which has longitudinally bisected. The surface is 

 finely reticulated, the mesh being regularly polygonal and about 

 0"25 mm. in diameter ; the fibres of the network are very irregular 

 in outline, and under a low magnifying power they are rugose and 

 bristling with echinating spicules. All the fibres are densely cored 

 with sand grains and spicule fragments. Texture very hard and 

 incompressible when dried. Colour when alive light brick red ; 

 beach-worn examples are white or gray, and after long exposure 

 dark brown. Notwithstanding the difference in habit, the spicules 

 are fairly constant in shape and size. 



Megascleres — (a) Echinating spined styli. Size — 0"07 by 0004 

 mm. (b) Smooth styli, occurring in the fibres and in the ground 

 substance. Size — 0"15 by 004 mm. 



Microscleres — (a) Small abundant isochelfe. Size — 0"0i2 mm. 

 (b) Strongly bent toxa. Size — 0-08 mm. 



The spicular characters of the Port Phillip example agree with 

 the type and other specimens examined. 



Thorecta ramsayii, Lendenfeld, is a sun-burnt example of this 

 species, its colour being like that of a Thorecta, and the specimen 

 agrees perfectly with the description of the outward form. It will 

 be noticed that T. ramsayii is omitted in the Monograph of Horny 

 Sponges. 



Of this species fourteen specimens are present in the collection 

 from Tuggerah Beach, two from Botany Bay, and three from Port 

 Stephens. 



Clathria RUBENS, Lendenfeld, sp. 

 (Plate xi., fig. 13). 

 Thalassodendron rtibenSfTiendenfeld, Anst.M.u3.Csit. xiii., Sponges, 

 1888, p. 223. 



A small washed out example of this species is present in the 

 collection from Broken Bay. Under this genus there are six 

 species and two varieties enumerated, all of which — except T. 



