unth descriptions of new Species. 345 



etoutj fusitbru), yfjth of an iucli long, nuicli bent in the centre, 

 and tapering towards the ends, which are sharp-pointed. 



The animal of this s})ecies when dry is snufF- coloured, and is 

 readily distinguished from its congeners by its simple-formed 

 spicula. When the shell in which it is concealed is broken 

 across, the numerous, large, angulated chambers containing the 

 lobes, separated only by thin walls, have much the appearance of 

 /loney-comb, lacking a little of its synnnetry and perfect angu- 

 larity. The C. nodosa is one of several species found in a large 

 specimen of Tridacna gigas, and is evidently very destructive ; 

 large portions of the strong ribs of the shell having given way 

 in several places under the influence of this parasite. 



C labyrintJticu. PI. XV. fig. 7. 



Sponge composed of an irregularly reticulated mass, the in- 

 terlacing being exceedingly minute, and so intricate that it is im- 

 possible to determine the order of the parts : papillae not very 

 numerous, minute, without apparent order. Spicula numerous, 

 fusiform, T^yji'd of an inch long, rather stout, nearly cylindrical, 

 slightly and regularly bent from end to end, with each termi- 

 nation suddenly brought to a sharp point. 



When dried this species is of a pale straw colour : it occurs 

 \n Tridacna gigas, to the shell of which it is very destructive. 

 Several specimens have occurred ; one of them has sunk upwards 

 of an inch deep into one of the ribs of the shell, and has extended 

 its ravages four or five inches in length and nearly two in breadth, 

 passing, in fact, from side to side of the rib, and giving to the 

 entire substance the appearance of the central cellular structure 

 of bone ; and this resemblance is rendered the more perfect on 

 account of a thin layer of the surface being left almost sound. 



Genus Thoosa*. 



Sponge branched or lobed, buried in calcareous bodies ; the 

 interior with anastomosing tubes, and devoid of spicula; the sur- 

 face with a crust of nodulous, crystalline bodies composed of 

 silex. 



This genus by its general form and habit is closely related to 

 Cliona, from w^hich it differs chiefly in the character of the sili- 

 ceous bodies on the surface, and in the absence of spicula from 

 the interior. Two or three species have occurred; they are all from 

 the tropics, and vary considerably in form ; one or two of them 

 have radiating spicula mixed with the siliceous bodies of the 

 surface. 



T. cactoides. PI. Xlll. tigs. 1 & 2. 



Sponge branched, strongly lobed, regularly and widely ana- 



* .V sea-itj-inpli. 



