﻿SPONGIIDA. 
  585 
  

  

  Among 
  Eetyonidie, 
  EcJihioaema, 
  abundant 
  in 
  South 
  and 
  South-west 
  

   Australia, 
  but 
  apparently 
  wanting 
  in 
  the 
  North 
  and 
  East, 
  appears 
  

   here. 
  Of 
  the 
  Tt'tractinelUda 
  we 
  have 
  a 
  fine 
  new 
  Geodine 
  form 
  

   {^Erylus 
  cylindrir/erus), 
  belonging, 
  however, 
  to 
  a 
  type 
  found 
  already 
  

   in 
  Australian 
  and 
  in 
  European 
  seas. 
  Calearea 
  are 
  relatively 
  rather 
  

   abundant, 
  at 
  any 
  rate 
  in 
  individuals, 
  and 
  the 
  new 
  species 
  Leucortis 
  

   ciiKjainea 
  is 
  of 
  somewhat 
  unusually 
  large 
  growth. 
  

  

  What 
  strikes 
  us 
  in 
  a 
  survey 
  of 
  the 
  species, 
  both 
  of 
  this 
  and 
  the 
  

   Melanesiau 
  collection, 
  is, 
  notwithstanding 
  the 
  large 
  proportion 
  of 
  

   new 
  specific 
  types, 
  the 
  comparative 
  scarcity 
  of 
  forms 
  showing 
  marked 
  

   distinctive 
  characters 
  of 
  generic 
  importance 
  which 
  are 
  not 
  also 
  

   found 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  familiar 
  Atlantic 
  fauna. 
  It 
  is 
  true 
  that 
  Carteri- 
  

   spongia, 
  PhyllosjJonr/ia, 
  lantliella, 
  Toxochalina, 
  Fsammoi^emma 
  , 
  

   Ecliinodictijum, 
  and 
  lihapliidopldus 
  have 
  not 
  yet 
  been 
  recorded 
  from 
  

   elsewhere 
  than 
  the 
  Indo- 
  Pacific 
  area, 
  and 
  are 
  probably 
  most 
  of 
  

   them 
  peculiar 
  to 
  it, 
  but 
  several 
  of 
  these 
  are 
  not 
  distantlj^ 
  related 
  

   to 
  Atlantic 
  forms 
  ; 
  and 
  within 
  this 
  wide 
  Indo-Pacific 
  region 
  (of 
  

   which, 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  admitted, 
  the 
  Eastern 
  part 
  is 
  very 
  imperfectly 
  

   known) 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  districts 
  exhibiting 
  at 
  all 
  peculiar 
  shallow- 
  

   water 
  sponge-faunas 
  is 
  small. 
  Certainly 
  the 
  Western 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   Indian 
  Ocean 
  is 
  not 
  one 
  of 
  these, 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  considered 
  in 
  this 
  

   respect, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  geographically, 
  as 
  transitional 
  between 
  Australia, 
  

   South-west 
  Asia, 
  and 
  the 
  Mediterranean. 
  

  

  