24 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.81 



Type locality. — Albatross Station 4417, 53 meters, off Santa 

 Barbara Island, Calif. 



Occurrence. — Lendenfeld identifies as S. angulata 4 specimens 

 dredged by the Albatross near Santa Barbara Island, southern Cali- 

 fornia, Stations 2945, 2975, and 4417, and as bicolor 15 specimens in 

 the same collection dredged at Stations 2958, 2981, 3168, 4420, 4531, 

 and 4551. These range from southern to central California. The 

 depths are from 42 to 100 meters. 



Description. — Tuberous, usually with digitate processes. Largest 

 specimen 4 by 10 cm. In spirits, externally whitish to rufous to 

 brown, internally dirty yellowish. A spicule fur covers much of 

 the surface. The smooth areas are probably always, and sometimes 

 certainly, due to such external causes as, for example, overlying 

 bryozoans. The round oscules are usually in groups, often on raised 

 processes, and vary from 0.25 to 1 mm in diameter. The pores are 

 in chones. The cortex is from 1 to 2 mm thick and, as is the rule 

 in this family, is packed with sterrasters. Spicules: {a) Special 

 dermal diacts up to 0.04 by 9 mm; {b) endosomal diacts up to 0.105 

 by 5.6 mm; (c) plagiotriaenes, the cladomes often reduced to diaenes 

 or monaenes, rhabds up to 0.11 by 4 mm; {d) anatriaenes, often 

 absent, when present with rhabds up to 0.039 by 9 mm; {e) sterras- 

 ters from 0.087 by 0.122 mm to 0.097 by 0.17 mm \ (/) spherasters with 

 spined tornote rays, total diameter often around 0.021 to 0.028 mm ; 

 {g) euaster rays sharply oxeote and sometimes microspined, some- 

 times smooth, total diameters up to 0.064 mm. 



Rer)iarks. — I have not examined Lendenfeld's specimens person- 

 ally, so use his published data, with this warning: E. F. Kallmann, 

 1914, examined the material from which Lendenfeld described very 

 numerous Australian sponges and reports serious inaccuracies in 

 many of Lendenfeld's descriptions. Although Lendenfeld produced 

 two large volumes on the Geodidae of the Albatross dredgings, I feel 

 we can only surmise the true status of his species pending a re-exami- 

 nation of the material by some competent investigator. 



In establishing angulata and bicolor Lendenfeld (1910) mentions 

 for the former that some of the spicules were sharply bent. This 

 is a very common malformation in manj^ sorts of sponges. In the 

 same article Lendenfeld figures such deformities for various of the 

 Geodias. He does not say this feature was conspicuously absent 

 from his bicolor. He established this latter name because of darker 

 color on one side than the other. As is well known, sponges receiv- 

 ing more light from one side than the other tend to be darker on the 

 exposed side. Lendenfeld notes (p. 47) that the darker was the upper 

 side of these specimens. S. bicolor and S. angidata are not to be 

 separated on such differences alone. 



