NO. 17 NEW SPONGES— DE LAUBENFELS I7 



Family MYXILLIDAE Topsent 

 ANOMOLISSA, n. gen. 



This genus is erected for a specimen that, as in the genus Lissoden- 

 doryx Topsent, has special dermal diacts over endosomal monacts, and 

 microscleres that in general are arcuate chelas. These latter are, how- 

 ever, curiously malformed, and the special dermal spicules are erect 

 oxeas instead of tornotes. 



Genotype and only species. — Anomolissa amaza, new species. 



ANOMOLISSA AMAZA, n. sp. 



Holotype.—Xl.S.'^M. no. 22348. 



Four specimens were collected at station 52, latitude i9°io'25" N., 

 longitude 69°2o'55" W. to latitude i9°io'o5" N., longitude 69°2i' 

 25" W., February 16, 1933, 14 to 22 fathoms. 



These specimens are all smoothly rounded amorphous masses, two 

 of them having long, thin, twisted projections 3 to 4 mm thick and 

 about 4.5 cm long. The main masses of all are about i to 2 cm in 

 diameter. The color is very pale, and the consistency cartilaginous. 

 The surface is hispid with projecting spicules, some more than 1,000 /x 

 long. The pores and oscules cannot be made out. The internal struc- 

 ture is in general radiate, densely packed with spicules. As noted 

 above, the ectosomal specialization is a dense palisade of erect spicules 

 perpendicular to the main mass of the sponge. These are oxeas, often 

 about 4 /x by 130 /x ; some are larger, however, and there are all inter- 

 mediates up to the much larger spicules of the radiate endosome. Two 

 sorts of endosomal megascleres are present ; there are first the large 

 oxeas mentioned above, which attain a maximum size of at least 50 /x 

 by 1,500/1,. The typical endosomal spicules are styles, 11 |u, by 390 /x. 

 The abundant microscleres are technically arcuate isochelas, but they 

 are twisted, slightly unequally ended, and the prongs are very sharp, 

 suggestive of the unguiferate type, rather than smoothly rounded. 



This species is to be compared carefully with the one described 

 originally as Desmacidon titubans by Schmidt ( 1870, p. 55) , for which 

 Topsent (1928, p. 206) proposed the subgenus Anomomycale. It 

 seems to me advisable to regard this as a valid genus, instead of merely 

 a subgenus, and I therefore propose that such a change be now es- 

 tablished. Anomonnycale is not recorded in the literature as having 

 dermal diacts, and it does have sigmas and a moderately reticulate 

 arrangement of the megascleres. Its chelas were curiously malformed 

 in a way that may indicate genuine close relationship to Anomolissa 

 amasa, but this may be a coincidence. 



