1 68 •■ENDEAVOUK- SCIEXTIFIC KESULTS. 



Crkli.v ixcRr.sr.ws, Carlcr, viii'. it.mji \, I .nnicujcUL 



icS88. Cldlhrissii piiniiUi, Lendenfeld, Cat. Sponges Austr. 

 Mus., 1888, p. .m8. 



Sponge ciicnisliiii:, thin: surface loicroi or irregularly 

 conulafed. OscnUi s))iaU, scattcrcil. Muiti skeleton con- 

 sisting of ascoicling coliinnis of (icinithostyles a)id 

 descending colitnnis of oxea. Accnitliostyles of the dermal 

 skeleton scattered without order. M cgascleres, 7naxi~ 

 niui)} sizes: — (/.) Oxea, i~o x 5.5 /( ; (//. ) principal acan- 

 thostyles, 7^5 x iv p : (Hi.) dernnd aciUithtistyles, Si) x. 

 ^^.fi fi. Is(>chela' arcuaUc, of a single ki)id, 12 to if> n 

 lottg. 



Introductory Remarks. — Lendenfeld described the outward, 

 appearance of the typical variety of his C'lathrissa pumila in 

 the following- terms: — "Small, incrusting, conulated sponges, 

 of a light rose colour in the fresh state and grey when pre- 

 served in spirit. The conuli are on an average 2 mm. high and. 

 4 mm. apart. Small oscula .8 mm. wide are scattered 

 irregularly over the surface." His complete description 

 of the variety rubra is exceedingly brief: — "Massi\e or 

 incrusting sponges with small conuli i mm. high which 

 are very close together. The largest specimens attain, 

 a height of 20 nmi. The colour of the living sponge is. 

 bright scarlet. The skeleton is similar to that of the 

 species." It will be obser\ed that, so far as the des- 

 cription informs us, the variety is distinguished onl}- by the 

 slightly lesser height of its conuli, and by the deeper shade of 

 its colour — neither of which differences possesses in itself any 

 importance. An examination of the type-specimens, however, 

 renders it exceedingly probable that Lendenfeld 's descriptions, 

 have reference to two quite distinct varieties. The type speci- 

 mens of E. pumila and its variety are separately represented 

 each by a bunch of stout seaweed roots that are almost com- 

 pletelv over-grown with encrusting sponges of quite a number 

 of different kinds. It was necessary to examine several of these 

 before it could be said with certainty which were the actual 

 examples of the species, and as a result it has been found that 

 there are among them two varieties which accord very well 

 with the descriptions so far as external features are concerned ;. 

 that is to say, one of them appears to be invariably of encrust- 

 ing habit, whilst the other may assume a massi\e form, becom- 

 ing cake-shaped, in regard to their inner structure, however, 

 they do not comply with the descriptions inasmuch as their 

 skeletons are not similar, and there is a notable difference in 

 the size of their niegascleres ; furthermore the variety which 



