Sponges from South Australia. 43 



and quadriraJiate : — 1, acerates, long, thin, cylindrical, 

 glistening, silky in both peristome and cones, but, owing to 

 the friction to which the specimen has been exposed, all, as 

 before stated, broken off so short that their dimensions in 

 length cannot be given, although, as usual, the length may be 

 assumed to have been considerable. Dr. v. Lendenfeld esti- 

 mates it (?. c.) at " 2-3 millim.," say about 5-48ths in. long. 

 2, triradiates, comparatively small, regular, and irregular or 

 sagittal, and of variable size. 3, quadriradiates, which are 

 very scanty. No. 1 confined to the peristome and cones, 

 those of the latter spreading out tent-like over the outer 

 ends of their chambers, and sinking deeply into the paren- 

 chyma ; no. 2 to the wall and its limiting layers, viz. that 

 of the surface and that of the cloaca, uniformly and 

 comparatively small throughout ; and no. 3 to the surface of 

 the cloaca and margins of the pores on the surface where the 

 scanty presence of the curved fourth arm indicates that of the 

 quadriradiate itself. Size of specimen, whose sides are closely 

 approximated, 2 in. long, by 1^ in. in its widest diameter. 



Obs. Although this species, in its dead state, is so much 

 compressed, it is doubtful how far this would be the case when 

 living undisturbed in its habitat. As it appears to be the 

 same species as that described by Dr. R. v. Lendenfeld 

 {I. c), 1 have adopted his specific name for it. The surface 

 in a dried specimen affords a beautiful object for the micro- 

 scope, and altogether is so strikingly characterized that it 

 only needs to be studied once to be unmistakably recognized 

 thereafter. 



The smaller specimen of this species, for there are two, 

 appears to be in a better condition than the large one, inas- 

 much as it is stouter, though still somewhat compressed, and 

 plentifully charged with ova, in apparently the " planogas- 

 trula " stage, situated chiefly on the surface of the chambers ; 

 but without any traces whatever of the small granuliferous 

 spermatic- like cells seen where the ova are not in such an 

 advanced stage of development. It is about an inch long and 

 half an inch its longest diameter, containing a large crusta- 

 cean in the cloaca quite ready, when living, to devour the 

 embryos as they were discharged from the parent. 



18. Hypograntia extusarticulata. 



Agglomerated. Specimen consisting of a large bunch of 

 long and short, more or less inflated, cylindrical sacs, with 

 conotruncated ends ; growing irregularly out of each other 

 towards the base, all scantily peristomed. Colour whitish 

 yellow on the surface, sponge-brown within. Surface even. 



