460 Records of the Indian Museum. (Vo. XI, 
A minute sponge of which the spicules agree well with Car- 
ter’s description and figures occurs in abundance in dead reef- 
coral from Port Mouat in the Andamans, occupying the burrows 
of various boring organisms and in particular those of Cliona en- 
sifera and C. lobata. The form of the sponge is precisely that 
of the cavity it occupies. It is of solid structure, the natural cavi- 
ties being small except when occupied, as is often the case, with 
fragments of calcareous matter. Specimens treated with acid 
are apt to appear cavernous owing to these fragments being 
dissolved. The ectosome, which is in contact with the wall of the 
burrows occupied, is thin but somewhat impenetrable by liquids 
and it is difficult to clear specimens in oil of cloves. The whole 
structure of the organism is on so minute a scale that it could 
only be elucidated properly by means of sections of specially 
preserved material, which I do not possess. 
Coppatias investigatrix, sp. nov. 
(Plate xxxiv, figs. I, 2.) 
This sponge is closely related to C. penetrans, with which it 
agrees in habits, but the macroscleres are as a rule spined near 
the tips and the microscleres exhibit much greater diversity of 
form. Unlike C. penetrans it is a deep-sea species. 
Sponge.—-In its early stages the sponge consists of minute 
masses of an irregularly oval form. These penetrate into the 
burrows of Clionids in shells, then increase in size and assume the 
shape of the spaces they occupy; before doing so completely, they 
give out relatively slender, blunt, finger-like processes. ‘The inter- 
nal structure appears, so far as can be seen, to resemble that of 
C. penetrans. 
Spicules.—Both macroscleres and microscleres are very vari- 
able. ‘The majority of the latter are slender, spindle-shaped am- 
phioxi abeut 15 to 30 times as long as broad, smooth for the 
greater part of their length, but bearing scattered, sharp, erect 
spines near the two extremities, the actual tips being smooth. 
Smaller absolutely smooth amphioxi also occur. 
The microscleres are of three kinds, vzz. (a) oxyasters with 
spined tips, (b) spherasters with spined tips, and (c) smooth spher- 
asters. Intermediate forms occur, however, in all cases. 
The spiny oxyasters have as a rule six cladi, but may have 
only four, or occasionally more than six. The tips are sharply 
and gradually pointed and bear sharp erect spines scattered rather 
densely. ‘There is no distinct central nodule and the bases of 
the cladi are smooth. 
The spiny spherasters are merely more compact forms of the 
same type, with a larger number of shorter and stouter cladi 
fused together at the base. They are, asa rule, smaller than the 
oxyasters, but every intermediate form of spicule can be found. 
The smooth spherasters have still shorter and more numerous 
cladi than the spiny ones and a relatively larger central sphere. 
