70 



written upon the sponge-fauna of this particular district, and 

 the sponge-fauna of Madras, in so far as is evidenced bj' the 

 material at my disposal, bears a striking resemblance to it. 

 Thus, out of the ten determinable species from Madras, four, 

 viz., Halichondria panicea (a cosmopolitan species), Axinella don- 

 nam, Hircinia clathrata, and Hircinia vallata, have already been 

 recorded from the neighbourhood of Ceylon. 



" There can be no doubt that the present collection was 

 obtained in shallow or moderately shallow water, although 

 there is no record of the depth. Species with a strong deve- 

 lopment of spongin in the skeleton-fibre predominate, as might 

 have been safely predicted from the climatic conditions of the 

 locality." 



The majority of the sponges, as will be seen, belong to 

 the Monaxonida, which " comprise by far the most commonly 

 met with and abundant of all sponges. They occur in 

 greater or less profusion in all parts of the world, but are 

 more especially shallow-water forms. They may be col- 

 lected between tide-marks almost anywhere."^ 



None of the Gulf of Manaar sponges, which I have 

 collected from between tide-marks up to 11 fathoms, are of 

 any commercial value. ^ The colours of many of them are 

 very bright, but soon fade or change when the sponge is 

 dried or immersed in alcohol. 



The following list includes only a portion of my collec- 

 tion, many of the sponges still awaiting identification. Of 

 the 31 species recorded there are 18 new species, and 2 new 

 varieties of previously recorded species, viz., Pachychaliiia 

 muUiformis and Ciocalypta tyleri. 



TETE ACTINELLID A . 

 Tetilla hirsuta, n. sp. Tuticorin. Colour not recorded. 



MONAXONIDA. 



Halichondria panicea, Johnston, var. Ram^svaram. Light pink. 



Variety of the British species. 

 Petrosia testudinaria, Lamarck, sp. Tiiticorin pearl banks. Pink, 

 cup-shaped. 



' Challenger Report on Monaxonida. 



* A single small specimen of Spoiigia officinalis was collected by Dr. 

 Anderson in the Mergui Archipelago. 



