IV. PORIFERA. 



By N. AnnandaIvE, D.Sc, F.A.S.B., Superintendent of the 

 Indian Museum. 



In the absence of ponds, lakes and slow-running streams it 

 was not to be expected that sponges would be found in the 

 Abor country, but two species were obtained by Mr. Kernp and 

 Mr. J. Coggin Brown of the Geological Survey in N.-E. Assam. 

 The only species hitherto found in Assam was Spongilla {Euspon- 

 gilla) prolif evens, Annandale, which was taken near Mangaldai 

 to the north of the Brahmaputra by Mr. Kemp on a former 

 occasion and is widely distributed in the Oriental Region. Speci- 

 mens were found by Messrs. Kemp and Brown on their way to 

 the Abor country at Dibrugarh on the south bank of the Brahma- 

 putra. The same collectors obtained specimens of another sponge 

 [Spongilla [Eunapius) crassissima var. crassior, Annandale) in 

 a small muddy pond at Mariani in the Sibsagar district. This 

 form had only been found hitherto at Rajshai (Rampur Bhulia) 

 on the north bank of the Ganges in Bengal, while the typical 

 form of the species is only known from the Gangetic delta and 

 Orissa. 



All the specimens from N.-E. Assam were preserved in 

 November. Although apparently killed during a period of full 

 vegetative vigour, they are full of gemmules. 



I can detect no buds on the examples of 5. prolif erens, but 

 these structures, although characteristic of the species, are not 

 always present. The gemmules possess well-formed foraminal 

 tubules. 



The specimens of 5. crassissima var. crassior agree well with 

 the types except in being of a bright green colour. In external 

 appearance (except as regards colour) they closely resemble 

 S. decipiens calcuttana, which belongs to the same subgenus, 

 but they can be easily distinguished therefrom by their much 

 stouter megarscleres and more compact skeleton. 



5. prolif erens is fuU}^ described on pp. 72-76 of my volume in 

 the " Fauna " on the Freshwater Sponges, etc. and S. crassissima 

 and its variety on pp. 98 and 99 of the same work. 



