132 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.37. 



Habitat. — Taal Lake, east side of Taal Island, Luzon, Philippines. 

 H. M. Smith coll., December 26, 1907. "Abundant round shores of 

 lake, and washed up in large quantities after storms." The specimens 

 appear to have coated both surfaces of leaves, which have perished 

 and almost disappeared. 



The most noteworthy characters of this sponge are the number 

 and hair-like appearance of the free microscleres, which are some- 

 times of unusual length in spite of their tenuity. Otherwise there 

 is very little, except perhaps color, to distinguish it from some 

 forms of Spongilla lacustris. The specimens I have examined are 

 dry and appear to be someAvhat worn on the external surface, but 

 there is no trace of their having borne branches; the oscula seem 

 to have been fairly large. The skeleton, in spite of the closeness 

 of its reticulation, contains much less spongin than is usually the 

 case in S. lao/stris, but this is a character liable to a certain amount 

 of variation, although perhaps less inconstant than is usually thought. 



The type-specimen will be transferred to the U. S. National 

 Museum. 



SPONGILLA PHILIPPINENSIS Annandale. 



Spongilld phUippinensis Annandale, Proc. T^. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 3(), lOOD, p. G20, 

 text figs. 2 and 3. 



Several specimens from the original locality. Lake Lanao, Min- 

 danao, collected by Dr. Paul Bartsch, were sent to me. They have 

 a gray color in alcohol. I have not been able to find gemmules in 

 these specimens, which were taken in May, 1908, at Vicars Landing, 

 in shallow water at the edge of the lake, and were attached to sub- 

 merged drift; but they are full of embryos. The embryos lie in 

 the interstices of the skeleton and have no protecting membrane as 

 is the case in some oriental species." They are so numerous that in 

 preparations made by boiling pieces of the sponge in nitric acid their 

 minute immature skeleton spicules are present in sufficient numbers 

 to appear to be a feature of the species and might easily be mistaken 

 for free microscleres. True flesh spicules are, however, absent. 



Only four species of Spongillina3 appear to have been recorded 

 as yet from the Plrilippines, namely, Spongilla philippinensis and 

 S. dementis from Mindanao, and S. microsclerifera and Ephydatia 

 fortis from Luzon. It may be expected that more will be discovered. 



" Annandale, Records of the Indian Museum, vol. 1, 1907, p. 269. 



