STCA.NDUA. — GEANTESSA. 



This sponge, one of the most beautiful in Port Jackson, was provisionally 

 set down by Miklucho-Maclay as Baeria Bamsmjl. The genus Bacria may 

 with further investigation be reestablished, when we are in a position to 

 replace Haeckel's artificial classification by a more natural one. The specific 

 name has been retained. 



Subfamilia UTEINiE. 

 Syconidse, the ciliated chambers of which coalesce throughout, 

 so that there are no projecting distal cones, and the outer surface 

 is smooth and continuous. The tubes are simple and unbranched ; 

 there is no complicated canal-system. 



Genus GRANTESSA. 

 Uteinse with sparsely scattered bunches of long dermal pro- 

 truding diacts, which are not determined in their number or 

 position by the ciliated chambers. 



Grantessa sacca, Lendenfeld. 



Grantessa sacca, E. von Lendenfeld, " A Monograph of the Australian Sponges. 

 • — Part JII.," Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 

 vol. ix. part 4, p. 1098 (1885). 



Large sac-shaped sponges, which do not form colonies and which are charac- 

 terized by the large size of their gastral cavity and the thinness of the body-wall. 

 The sponge attains a length of 80 millim. and has the shape of a straight or 

 shghtly curved cylinder, with a circular transverse section 20-25 millim. 

 in diameter. The body-wall is only 2-2*5 millim. thick. Intercanals with 

 triangular transverse section, regular, and conspicuous, connected with the 

 outer water by small pores, which pervade the dermal layer. No subdei'mal 

 extensions of the inhalants. 



Spicules. — Gastral tetrads rare ; one differentiated ray protruding into 

 the gastral cavity, straight, short and stout, conic and pointed, 0-055- 

 0-006 X 0-005 millim. Tangential rays regular, in one plane, vertical to the 

 centripetal ray, 0-07x0-005 millim, — Triact Siricules of the Parenchyma 

 sagitally differentiated ; centrifugal unpaired ray straight, conic, rounded at 

 the end, 0-2-0-3 x 0-006-0-007 millim.; the paired rays slightly bent, with 

 the convex side looking inward, 0-11x0-004 millim, Eegular triacts with 

 straight, cyhndrical, abruptly pointed rays are met with towards the outer 

 surface: their rays measure 0-1-0-14x0007 millim. Dermal triacts, similar 



