SPONGIIDA. 597 



11. Hircinia, sp. 



The same species as the unnamed Hircinia mentioned in Part I. 

 of this Report, p. 387. 



A flattened specimen. The secondary fibres are somewhat stouter 

 and darker in colour than in the Australian specimen, and the pri- 

 maries contain less sand. 



Hah. Seychelle Islands, -1—12 fms. 



Distribution. See Part I. of this Report, p. 387. 



DYSIDEID^E. 



Dysidea has a remarkably wide range in latitude, its localities 

 including (among others) Iceland and England in the North 

 Atlantic, the West Indies in the tropical Atlantic, the Cape and South 

 Australia in the Southern Ocean, the Western Indian Ocean and 

 the North of Australia in the tropical parts of the Indo-Pacific 

 area. While, on the other hand, it is abundant in individuals in 

 temperate waters (as is the case on the British coasts), it appears to 

 be more prolific in species in subtropical and tropical waters (Mediter- 

 ranean and Indian Ocean). Two species occur in the district at 

 present under notice, and four others were obtained by the ' Alert ' 

 off the Australian coast. The other genera appear to be much more 

 limited in range : Psammopeinma, Marshall, was but once obtained by 

 the ' Alert ' (viz. in Torres Straits). Psammoclema and Psammascus, 

 id., have not been recognized in any of the ' Alert ' collections. 



12. Dysidea conica. 

 Bowerbank, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 26, pi. vi. fig. 1. 



To this species, so fully described by Bowerbank, I assign a frag- 

 mentary Dysideid closely resembling the top of the specimen figured by 

 him, also some skeletons. Although the mesoderm contains abundant 

 foreign bodies, the species does not fall into either of the genera 

 Psammascus and Psammoclema, which Marshall has formed for 

 Dysideidse exhibiting this character, as it has neither the tubular 

 form of the one nor the smooth surface of the other, but agrees with 

 Dysidea in its well-developed conuli. The dermis is dark to the 

 naked eye, but is transparent under the microscope. It is infested 

 by a Spongiophaga (Carter), of large size, the head measuring about 

 •012 and the filament about *009 millim. in diameter. 



Hab. Glorioso Islands, 7-10 fms. 



Distribution. N.W. Ceylon, 8 fms. (Bowerbank). 



13. Dysidea gnmmmea. (Plate LIII. fig. C.) 



? Dysidea kirki, pars, Carter. Ann. $ Mag. N. H. 1881, vii. p. 374, 

 nee Bowerbank. 



A species bearing a close external resemblance to D. conica, 



