[lambe] sponges from THE ATLANTIC COAST OF CANADA 193 



Phakellia ventilabruni, Verrill. 1873. Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, vol. vi., p. 440 and 



vol. vii., p. 413. 

 Phakellia ventilabruni ^ WhitenveH. 1874. Report on deep-sea dredging operations 



in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, p. 9. 



The examples of this sponge, about twenty in number, from the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence are as a rule cup-shaped with short, rather slender 

 stalks and with walls about 5 mm, thick in large well developed speci- 

 mens. A breadth of 6 inches across the mouth of the cup, ' with a total 

 height of about 5 inches is frequently attained. When ver}' young, 

 before the cup has formed at the upper end of the stalk or is only begin- 

 ning to develop, the sponge is very different in shaj^e to the spreading 

 sometimes almost fan-shajied mature sponge. 



The styli have an average size of 0*440 by 0013 mm. and are slightly 

 curved (Plate IL, fig. 3a). Very slender styli are also often present, 

 which, as a rule, are considerably bent or tAvisted ; they measure 0-274 

 mm. in average length and O'OOS mm. in thickness (Plate IL, fig. 36;. 



Localities. — Gaspé coast. Metis, Rivière du Loup, Murray Bay, nine- 

 teen specimens, dry ; Murray Bay, one young specimen, in alcohol. Sir 

 William Dawson ; dredge A No. 8, eight miles southeast of Bonaventure 

 Island, Gaspé. in 56 fixthoms, stones and coarse sand, four young speci- 

 mens in alcohol, J. F. Whiteaves. 



Distribution. — River and Gulf of St, Lawrence (Sir William Dawson); 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence (J. F. Whiteaves) ; northeast coast of United 

 States (Verrill). 



Foreign distribution. — Off' coasts of Great Britain (Johnston) ; Shet- 

 land Islands and Loch Fyne (Bowerbank) ; between Scotland and the 

 Fai'roe Islands and oft^ Cape St. Vincent (Carter) ; lat. 72° 14'8 N., long. 

 22° 30'9 E. (Vosmaer) ; otf Brazil and northeast of the Falkland Islands 

 (Challenger). 



SuBERiTES Ficns, .Johnston. 



(Plate IL, figs. 4, 4rt, U, 4c.) 



Halichondria ficu,s, Johnston. 1842. British Sponges, p. 144, pi. xv., tigs. 4, 5. 

 Hymeniacidon ficus, Bowerbank. 1866. Mon. Brit. Spong. vol. ii., p. 206 and vol. iii., 

 p. 92, pi. xxxvi, figs. 10-17. 



Two specimens of this sponge were obtained from Sable Island, off' 

 the coast of Nova Scotia. The larger of the two specimens is attached to 

 the up2)er valve of a specimen of Pecte?i {Amu.mcm) tenuicostata, Mighels. 

 and bears a remarkable resemblance in outer form to the specimen 

 figured by Bowerbank (vide supra) ; it is about 195 mm. high, 83 mm. 

 in maximum breadth and about 36 mm. thick in the upper part. On the 

 inner surface of the valve of the shell are four young sponges of the 



1 One specimen obtained by Prof. Vei'rill off the coast of Maine, measured two 

 feet across, op, cit. vol. vi., p. 440. 



