1915. | N. ANNANDALE: Indian Boring Sponges. E 
Ci 
mm. long by 0°008 mm. broad. They are never strongly arched or 
geniculate. Spicules of this type are fairly abundant. 
The microscleres are minute, straight, truncate, cylindrical 
bodies bearing relatively large spines which often show a tendency 
to group themselves in three rings (two terminal and one median), 
but sometimes cover the spicule quite irregularly. Their average 
length is 0’012 mm. and breadth, with the spines, 0°008 mm. 
Distribution.—Apparently common in shells of Ostrea imbn- 
cata and O. cuculata in from 15 to 30 fathoms of water off the 
coast of Orissa and the Ganjam district of Madras in the Bay of 
Bengal (S.S. ‘ Golden Crown’). 
Type .—No. Z.E.V. 6415/17, Ind. Mus. 
The microscleres of this species appear at first sight to be in 
many cases amphiasters rather than spirasters, but actually exhibit 
(fig. 2) a fairly regular transition between the two types. Some of 
them are not unlike the small spicules of Dotona. The species at 
present stands alone in the genus so far as its spiculation is concern- 
ed, but I have little doubt as to its validity, although the circum- 
stances in which it was found seem at first sight a little suspicious. 
Large numbers of oyster-shells, all of which were unfortunately 
cleaned and dried before being examined, were obtained by the 
trawler ‘ Golden Crown’ off the east coast of India in 1909. ‘The 
majority of them were found, on recent examination, to be per- 
forated and in many cases partially disintegrated by the burrows 
of a Chona, of which minute fragments were extracted from 
broken shells. Spicule-preparations made from other pieces of the 
same shells contained in some cases only spicules identical with 
those which occurred in the fragments of sponge extracted, vzz. 
smooth amphioxi and microscleres of the type described and 
figured above. No tylostyles could be found either in the spi- 
cule-preparation or in the fragments of sponge. Other fragments 
of sponge extracted from shells were clearly no part of a Clionid 
but represented two species of Eurypon. Many spicule-prepara- 
tions contained a mixture of the spicules of the Clrona with those 
of one or other representative of the latter genus. No actual con- 
fusion is possible, however, between the two very different genera 
thus associated. 
Cliona patera (Hardwicke). 
1822. Spongia patera, Hardwicke, Aszat. Researches XIV, 
D., FOO pla: 
1858. Poterion neptuni, Schlegel, Handled. Dierkunde II, 
p- 542. 
1880. Poterion patera, Sollas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5) VI, 
p- 441. 
1908. Poterion patera, Vosmaer, Versi Gew. Verg. Wos-en- 
Naturk. Afd. XVII (1), p. 16. 
1909. Cliona patera, Topsent, Arch. Zool. expérim. (4) IX 
Dobie: 
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