SILICIOUS AND HORNY SPONGES WILSON. 465 



Family LEIODERMATIIDAE. 



Azoricidae Sollas, 1S8S, p. 319. 



Leiofh rinatiidae Lendenfeld, 1903, p. 145. 



Without special ectosomal megascleres and, except in a few forms, 

 without microscleres. With monocrepid desmas and rhabds. 



The family definition is slightly modified, in order to cover Tapro- 

 bane Dendy and Microscleroderm a Kirkpatrick, for which it seems 

 desirable to create an appendix. Of the nine genera recognized by 

 Sollas as belonging in this family Lendenfeld retains only two. 

 Five of the genera including Azorica Carter are merged, along with 

 Petromica Topsent, in Leiodcrmatirun O. Schmidt, and the family 

 name changed. Lendenfeld's synopsis is so convenient that I prefer 

 to follow him in merging Azorica in Leiodermatium, although the 

 pores and oscula in Leiodermatium lynceus (the type of Schmidt's 

 genus: see discussion in Sollas 1888, p. 348) O. Schmidt (1870, p. 

 22) differ conspicuously from those of Azorica. 



Lithobactrum Kirkpatrick (19025, p. 175) falls in and is assigned 

 by its author to this family. If we adopt Lendenfeld's rearrange- 

 ment of the genera, the genus fits in GastrophaneUa O. Schmidt. 

 Since Lendenfeld's synopsis there have been reports concerning the 

 following species: Petromica grimaldii Topsent, 1904 (p. 64); P. 

 massalis, new species, Dendy, 1905 (p. 104), 19216 (p. 8) ; Leioder- 

 matium pfeifferae (Carter), Topsent, 1904 (p. 63) ; L. deciduum (O. 

 Schmidt), Lendenfeld 1906 (p. 363); L. crassiusculum (Sollas), 

 Hentschel 1912 (p. 307) ; Microsclerodermia hirsutum, new genus, new 

 species, Kirkpatrick, 1902& (p. 173) ; Taprobane herdmani, new 

 species, Dendy, 1905 (p. 102), 1921& (p. 7). 



Genus LEIODERMATIUM O. Schmidt (1870, 1879). 



Leiodermatium part, O. Schmidt, 1870, p. 22. — As defined by exclusion, 



O. Schmidt, 1879, p. 28. — Part, Lendexfeld, 1903, p. 145. 

 Azorica Cabtee plus Leiodermatium O. Schmidt, Sollas, 1SS8, pp. 319, 352. 



Lamellate or vasiform sponges with pores on one face and oscula 

 on the other. The rhabd megascleres are styles or oxeas. Without 

 microscleres. 



Possibly one of the species, L. choneUeides (Doderlein), assigned 

 to Azorica by Sollas, does not conform to the definition just given. 

 (See Lendenfeld, 1903, p. 147.) 



LEIODERMATIUM PFEIFFERAE (Carter). 

 Plate 43, i\\i*. 4, 8; pl.'He .",1, figs. 4, 5, G, 7. 



.4^on*crt pfeifferae Cartek, Sollas 1S88. p. 319. — Topsent, 1904, p. G3. 

 Leiodermatium pfeifferae (Carter), Lendenfeld, 1903, p. 148. 



Sollas (1888, p. 320) suggests that the dudlenger specimen from 

 Amboina may represent a piece of a vasiform sponge. A specimen 

 81709—25 14 



