NORTH AMERICAN PORIFERiE. PART I. 403 



D. et M. in somewhat deeper, say from eight to ten feet, and the fistnkr forms in the deep- 

 est Avaters. This view is suggested by Dr. Puhner's notes, he having collected the first- 

 named varieties in the shallower water associated with Echinoderms nnd Star-fishes, and the 

 branching forms, equivalent to Luffaria fulva D. et M., only in the deeper water associated 

 with Gorgonia or Corals ; and the skeletons of the last, equivalent to Liiffurla nipicola, only 

 when cast up by storms on the reef. Usually the tubular interior of the fibres remains 

 smaller than in any species of Apl^'-sina, but I have one specimen of variety riiyplkata which 

 shows in one portion fibres with thin walls while in other parts the usual proportions are 

 maintained. 



Cape Florida, Nassau, Bermuda. Soc. Coll. 



Verongia hirsuta Hy.att. 



Variety fulvoides. One specimen in the collection of the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology exhibits a very hirsute exterior. This is due to a sudden lengthening of the not 

 yet anastomosed fibres which always project beyond the surfiice. Both branches also have 

 subsequently to this curious variation given rise to a bud, which resumes in the formation 

 of the skeleton the closer growth observable in the central parts of the parent stem. 

 Another type of this fulva-like variety occurs in two specimens in the Society's Collection. 

 These are equally hirsute, the points of the fibres standing out prominently all over the 

 surface. 



Variety fistularoides. The fistularian variety is represented in one specimen in the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology from Havana. This is the fragment of a very large 

 specimen perfectly fistular, with thick walls, dark brown colored and large fibres, which 

 dichotomize near the external surflice, dividing into single branches of greater or less extent 

 but forming no proper net-work. These are gathered into tuft-like prominences and appear 

 sometimes to be a quarter of an inch deep. This curious surfiice renders the sponge 

 entirely distinct from any other, though the forms of the varieties are the same as in F. 

 Jistnlarls. 



Florida and Havana. 



Verongia tenuissima Hyatt. 



This species is founded upon a single specimen, but the characteristics are so different 

 from even the most extreme variety of Verongia fistularis that I venture to describe it as 

 distinct. The fibres are either round or slightly flattened, very much smaller than those in 

 any variety of V. fistularis, but anastomose in the same irregular way. Though this is the 

 case the mesh, nevertheless, in size and form approximates in the older parts of the speci- 

 men examined to the me.sh of Aplysina, though there is no tendency to build up cells as in 

 that genus. The form is fistulose, the single specimen examined being an irregularly shajDed 

 double tube, about an inch and a half high and two inches broad. The surface of the 

 specimen in alcohol is softer and firmer than that of Aphjsina arophoha ; it is studded 

 as in Verongia fistularis, with projecting points, but has not the rough prickly feeling 

 of that species. All of these characteristics are due to the greater elasticity of the 

 fibres, their small diameter and the density of the skeleton. The shrinkage of the jjody is 



