BY R. VON LENDENFELD, PH.D. 1125 



rough shape, which are mostly composed of only 2 to 5, rarely of 

 6 to 12 persons. These colonies resemble small potatoe-bulbs 

 and have a diameter of 10 to 20 mm. rarely 30 to 40. Some- 

 times they form ilat cushions covered with excrescences. At the 

 top of each knob generally a small Osculum is met with, 0-5 to 

 1-5 mm. in diameter, which leads into a similar narrow Gastral 

 cavity. Sometimes there is no trace of an Osculum, sometimes 

 several persons in a colony possess only one Osculum, or there is 

 only one single Osculum for all the persons in the colony. 

 Dermal and Gastral surface bare. The main mass of the 

 skeleton consists out of middle sized triradiate spicules, between 

 which there are enormous Ascerates. These are on an average 

 5 to 10 times as long and thick as the rays of the tiiradiate 

 spicules. The Dermal and the Gastral surfaces contain sagittal 

 triradiate spicules, the lateral rays of which are as long but only 

 half as thick as the rays of the subregular or irregular triradiate 

 spicules of the outer layer of the Parenchyma. The Australian 

 specimen belongs to Haeckel's Leucortis pulvinar var. indica. 

 The spicules contain a very large proportion of organic matter, 

 therefore they are more flexible, the triradiate spicules of the 

 Parenchyma mostly irregular. 



Locality : Indian Ocean, Schneehagen ; West Coast of 

 Australia, Harvey ; Ceylon ; Wright. Red Sea, Fi'auenfeld, 

 ]\Iiklouho. 



20. GENUS. LEUCANDRA. Von Lendenfeld. 



Leuconidse with acerate, triradiate and quadriradiate spicules. 

 Nearly identical with Haeckel's (1) genus Leucandra. 



40. SPECIES. LEUCANDRA ALCICORNIS. E. Haeckel (2). 

 The solitary person, which possess an Osculum sometimes, 

 sometimes none, is a slender cylinder measuring from 10 to 20 x 

 3 to 5 mm. The most common colonial form is a bushy scrub, 



(1.) E. HaecM. L.c. Band II., Seite, 170. 



(2.) E. Haeckd. L.c. Band II., Seite 184; Band III., Taf. XXXIL, 

 figs. 4a-4h; Taf. XXXVII., figs. 3 A., 3 B., 4. 



