I^O "ENDEAVOUR" SCIENTIFIC RESULTS. 



sponge ; at the surface they are penicillately spread out, form- 

 ing sub-dermal brushes with the points of the spicules imping- 

 ing on, but not piercing, the dermal membrane. The principal 

 columns appear never to quite reach the surface but to be 

 invariably capped with a column or a brush of oxea. The 

 interstitial megascleres are almost exclusively acanthostyles : in 

 the upper part of the sponge they are sometimes very numer- 

 ous, and form a conspicuous feature of the skeleton ; but this 

 is not a constant feature, and generally speaking, scattered 

 spicules are of no great abundance. The dermal skeleton 

 consists solely of irregularly and fairl}- closely scattered ac- 

 cessory acanthostyles. 



Megascleres. — 



(i.) The oxea vary in length from 130 to 170;/ and are thus 

 shorter than in any other of the known varieties. 

 They are slender spicules, rarely exceeding 4.5 /( and 

 never more than 5.5 /( in diameter. 



(ii.) The principal acanthostyles attain a maximum size of 

 145 X IO/(. 



(iii.) The dermal acanthostyles vary in length from about 

 60 to 80 ;( ; the stoutest are less than 6 }i in diameter. 



Microscle res. — 



The chelae are of a single kind, similar to those of the 

 variety levis, and 12-16 ;« long. 



Loc. — Port Jackson (Austr. Mus. Coll.). 



Creli.a in'Crust.ws, Carter, var. rubra, Lendetifcld. 



1888. Clathrissa piiniila var. rubra, Lendenfeld, Cat. Sponges 

 Austr. Mus., 1SS8, p. 2U). 



Very small, encrusting or cake or dome-shaped sponges 

 with smooth or papillated surface. Main skeleton con- 

 sisting of branching, ascenditig, occasionally anastomos- 

 ing, fairly densely echinated fibres often ivith a distinct 

 core of oxea, but usually with acanthostyles in addition 

 and sometimes containing acanthostyles alone. There 

 are no descending columns of smooth oxen as iti the pre- 

 ceding variety. The dermal skeleton cotisists of scat- 

 tered accessory acanthostyles. Megascleres, maximum 

 sizes: — (i.) Oxea, 200 .x 5 ]i; {ii.) principal acanthostyles, 

 160 X 8 ]i; {Hi.) dermal acanthostyles. So x 5 }i. Iso- 

 chelce arcuatce, 12 to 16 yi long. 

 The original description of the external features ol this 

 sponge was as follows: — "Massive or incrusting sponges with 

 small conuli about 1 mm. high which are very close together. 



