SPONGES.-HALLMANN. 



291 



O 



n 



n 



n 



sponge of rounded massive fortn, consisting of a honey- 

 comb-Jike retictdaiion of thin lamellce ; lameUce interwoven 

 in a sotncwhat irregular manner^ and at the surface in- 

 differently disposed. ''Cell-apertures,^^ 3 io 5 nim. in 

 diameter. Skeleton {of each 

 lamella) an irregular "bz- 

 dimensionaV reticulation of 

 main and connecting fibres. 

 Main fibres ivith a sparse core 

 of (auxiliary) subtylostrongyla: 

 connectit^g fibres vacant: all 

 the fdires rather plentifully 

 echinatcd by (principal) styli. 

 Auxiliary megasclcres are 

 rather abundantly scattered be- 

 tween the fibres. Megascleres : 

 — (/.) Principal styli, sub-con- 

 ical, slightly fusiform, gen- 

 erally with a well-marked sub- 

 basal constriction, varying in 

 length from about ~o to no }i 

 or slightly less, and attaining a 

 maximum diameter of 6 or y y. ; 

 (ii.) auxiliary subtylostrongyla 

 or (occasionally) amphistron- 

 gyla varying in maximum 

 length in different specimetrs 

 from 200 to 220 }4. 



Several specimens which I identify 

 as E. glabra, agree in all essential 

 respects with Ridley and Dendy's 

 description save that the auxiliary 

 megascleres are not tylota, but sub- 

 tylostrongyla and simple strongyla, 

 the number of the latter being re- 

 lativelv very small. In this connec- 

 tion, however, the original descrip- _Pig(>7--£.olabra a Prin- 

 . , , 1 w II cipal styles. b Auxiliary 



tion IS almost undoubtedly wrong, tyjostroneyle. 

 since the spicule, as represented in 

 Ridley and Dendy's figure, shows 



an enlargement only at one extremity, the other being simply 

 rounded off like that of a strongyle. 



In the two specimens which I have examined, and in a 

 mounted sectioni presented to the Australian Museum by 

 Prof. Dendy, the spicules agree in size; the auxiliary vary in 



1 This section is not. as Whitelegge (loc. cit.) supposed, a portion of the 

 type-specimen, but was cut from a specimen obtained in Port Phillip. 



