INVEKTEBRATE ANIMALS. 3 



Class SPONGIDA. o-7royyo?, a Sponge. 



Till very recently this class has been much neglected. A fine old 

 work by Esper, 4 vols., ito, contains many plates of Sponges; 

 but these have been superseded by the investigations of Haeckel, 

 Schmidt, Gray, Bowerbank, Carter, and Saville Kent. The groups 

 exhibit a small portion only of the entire collection, which Mr. 

 T. Higgin, of Huyton, has kindly undertaken to name and arrange 

 for the use of students. 



Group 5.— Orders MYXOSPONGLE and CALCISPONGI^ 



(Haeckel). Calcareous Sponges, and Sponges possess- 

 ing no fibrous endo-skeleton. Estimated number of 

 species in class Spongida: British, 200. Bowerbank, 

 1864-66. 



Order FIBROSPONGI^ (Haeckel). 

 Group 6.— Family HEXACTINELLID^ (Schmidt), Part I. 

 e^, six; axTjv, a ray. Spicules silicious, with rect- 

 angular rays. 



Genus HYALONEMA. vaKog, crystal ; v^[ji,a, thread. 

 H Hyalonema Sieholdii, the glass-rope Sponge — 

 several specimens, exhibiting the body of the 

 sponge attached to the stem' encrusted by the 

 commensal zoophyte, Palythoa. 



Genus EUPLECTELLA. Bu,tvell; 7rXsKTos,ttvined. 



Euplectella aspergillum. Sponge from the Island 

 of Cebu, Philippines, where it is known by the 

 name of "Regadera." It has also been called 

 Venus's Flower-basket. 



Meyerina claviformis (Gray). A very rare and 

 beautiful sponge, from the same locality with 

 the preceding ; length 26 inches, greatest dia- 

 meter 3|- inches. The body of the sponge is 

 seen enclcfsed in a sheath resembling the finest 

 lace-work. Imported and presented by Capt. 

 Snook, ship T. E. Lemon. 



