24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. QI 



The two specimens are each about 4 by 5 by 15 cm in size. The color 

 is pale drab, and the consistency is spongy but with a much stiffer 

 ectosome than the endosome. The cortex is a much denser structure 

 than the internal portion, but it scarcely can be described as a special 

 dermal skeleton, as it is merely a confused mass of fibers and spicules 

 not spaced so widely as is the case below. The pores are not con- 

 spicuous, but the oscules are remarkable ; they are located about 5 mm 

 apart over almost the entire surface of the sponge, and average about 

 2 mm in total diameter. Unlike the oscules of most sponges they are 

 not round in outline, but exceedingly irregular. Some are Y shaped, 

 others heart-shaped, but the commonest form resembles that of a 

 human footprint. The endosomal structure consists of a subrectangu- 

 lar reticulation of spongin fibers containing numerous rows of spic- 

 ules. The total diameter is about 50 /x to 150 /x. Among these fibers 

 occur a good many interstitial spicules, somewhat smaller than those in 

 the fibers. These occasionally make a vague isodictyal reticulation 

 themselves. The spicules are only oxeas varying from about 4 /x by 

 119 fi, in the fibers, to 2 /x by 90 ^i only in the interstitial structures. 



The fibrous structure of this species is by no means common, but 

 the most striking thing of all, as mentioned above, is the strange shape 

 of the oscules. 



Family SPONGIIDAE Gray 



HIRCINIA Nardo 



HIRCINIA RAMOSA, n. sp. 



Holotype. — U.S.N.M. no. 22317. 



Other specimens. — U.S.N.M. nos. 22258, 22278, and 22397. 



The type is from station 26, latitude i8°3o'2o" N., longitude 66° 22' 

 05" W. to latitude i8°3o'30" N., longitude 66°23'o5" W., February 7, 

 1933, 33 to 40 fathoms. The others were collected at station 10, lati- 

 tude i8°29'2o" N., longitude 66°o5'3o" W., to latitude i8°3o'24" N., 

 longitude 66°04'i5" W., 120 to 160 fathoms; station 17, latitude 

 i8°3o'oo" N., longitude 66°io'3o" W. to latitude i8°3o'oo" N., longi- 

 tude 66°i2'2o" W., 46 to 90 fathoms; and station 104, latitude i8°3o' 

 40" N., longitude 66°i3'2o"W. to latitude i8°3o'io" N., longitude 

 66°i3'5o"W., 80 to 120 fathoms. All are cylindrical and ramose. 

 The type is i cm in diameter, having about half a dozen branches, 

 attaining a total maximum height of some 20 cm. The others vary 

 from 7 to 15 mm in diameter, and are all somewhat shorter. The color 

 is drab, and the consistency is very spongy. The surface is sharply 

 conulose with conules about i to 2 mm high and 2 to 3 mm apart. The 



