VI.-FAUNA OF THE GULF OF 



MANAAR. 



This report upon the Fauna of the Indian side of the Gulf 

 of Manaar is composed of lists of those species which have 

 been obtained by myself from Rdm^svaram and the neigh- 

 bouring islands, and Tuticorin, including the pearl banks. 



I take this opportunity of expressing my hearty thanks 

 to Mr, Arthur Dendy, Professor Jeffrey Bell, Mr. J. E,. 

 Henderson, and Mr. Edgar A. Smith, for the great assist- 

 ance which they have rendered in connection with the collec- 

 tions of sponges, echinoderms, Crustacea, and moUusca, 



The report must be regarded as a preliminary one, and I 

 have made no attempt to classify the worms, nudibranchs, 

 tunicata, etc., which await identification. 



POEIFEEA. 



The sponges recorded below were collected by me either 

 in the neighbourhood of Edmesvaram Island or at Tuticorin, 

 and sent to Mr. Arthur Dendy at the British Museum, 

 Natural History, by whom they are described in detail in 

 the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, September 

 1887, and February 1889. 



As regards the first collection, which was made at Edmes- 

 varam, Mr. Dendy writes : — 



" The collection is of exceptional interest, owing to the fact 

 that it is the first which has been obtained from this particular 

 locality. Indeed our knowledge of the sponge-fauna of the 

 entire Indian Ocean is extremely deficient. This deficiency is 

 almost certainly due to want of investigation rather than to any 

 actual scarcity of sponges. Mr. Ridley and I have already 

 pointed oat, in our report on the Monaxonida collected by 

 H. M. S. Challenger, that ' this little-known field will probably 

 yield a rich harvest to whoever has the good luck to thoroughly 

 investigate it ;' and this statement is amply borne out by Mr. 

 Thurston's researches. 



" The best known locality for sponges in the Indian Ocean 

 is undoubtedly Ceylon ; Bowerbank, Gray, and Carter have all 



