No. 1712 



FRESH WATER SP0NGE8—ANNANDALE. 



403 



As regards its distribution, it has long been knowTi from the United 

 States and was recorded doubtfully by Hanitsch "■ from Ireland some 

 years ago. There is no doubt left in my mind, however, after exam- 

 ining American specimens, that my E. indica is identical with E. 

 cratenformis. In India it appears to be an extremely variable species 

 and its skeleton spicules are sometimes quite blunt at the tips. 



As regards the different forms assumed by the gemmule spicules, 

 the variation appears to be to some extent a seasonal one, but ex- 

 amples from different localities and even individual sponges taken 

 in the same pond at the same time often differ very much from one 

 another. The extreme limit 

 of variation in the direction 

 of Spongilla is well illus- 

 trated by the accompanying 

 cut (fig. 1), which is the 

 reproduction of a camera 

 lucida sketch of some spic- 

 ules of a specimen taken 

 in Calcutta in June, 1907. 

 This figure may be con- 

 trasted with that published 

 by Potts on plate 10 of his 

 monograph, but every gra- 

 dation is to be found be- 

 tween the two forms of 

 gemmule spicules. My fig- 

 ure in the Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal 

 was badly reproduced and 

 is not satisfactory. I have 

 obtained E. crateriformis 

 from the following Indian 

 localities: Calcutta; Moulmein (Lower Burma) ; Madras, and Igatpuri, 

 Western Ghats, Bombay Presidency. 



Fig. 1.— Skeleton and gemmule spicules of Spongilla- 



LIKE FORM OF EpHYDATIA CRATERIFOKMIS, X 240. 



Genus TUBELLA Carter. 



TUBELLA PENNSYLVANICA Potts. 



Tubclla peiinsiilvanlca Potts, Moiiogr., p. 251, pi. 'J, iig. 2; pi. 12, figs. 1, 2, 3. — 

 Annandale, Rec. Ind. Mus., vol. 3, p. 102. 



As I liave said in the paper previously cited, this si)ecies occurs in 

 Travancore near the west coast of southern India. It appears, 

 wherever it occurs, to be averse to light and to be found as a rule 

 under stones or roots. It has probably escaped observation for this 

 reason in many places in which it occurs. (See fig. 2.) 



o Nature, vol. 51, p. 511, 



