154 Mr. A. Dendy on the 



is undoubtedly Ceylon ; Bowerbank *, Gray f , and Carter J 

 have all written upon the sponge-fauna of this particular 

 district, and the sponge-fauna of Madras, in so far as is evi- 

 denced by the material at my disposal, bears a striking resem- 

 blance to it. Thus, out of the ten determinable species from 

 Madras, four, viz. Halichondria jpanicea (a cosmopolitan 

 species), Awinella Donnanij Hircinia clathrata^ and Hircinia 

 vallata, have already been recorded from the neighbour- 

 hood of Ceylon. 



There can be no doubt that the present collection was ob- 

 tained in shallow or moderately shallow water, although there 

 is no record of the depth. Species with a strong development 

 of spongin in the skeleton-fibre predominate, as might have 

 been safely predicted from the climatic conditions of the 

 locality. It is remarkable that all the species, with a single 

 exception, belong to the suborder Halichondrina or else to the 

 Keratosa, which are undoubtedly direct descendants of the 

 former group. The single exception is a new species of the 

 cosmopolitan genus Suherites, which I have called S. incon- 

 stans, owing to its extraordinary variability in external ap- 

 pearance. 



In addition to the species recorded below there are in the 

 collection a number of Ectyonine and Homorrhaphid forms, 

 which I have thought desirable to leave undetermined until a 

 better supply of material is forthcoming. Unfortunately all 

 the specimens have been dried, but I hope before long to 

 receive a second instalment preserved in alcohol. 



Suherites inconstans, n. sp. (Pis. IX., X.) 



There are six specimens of this species in the collection. 

 They present us with an extraordinary range of external 

 form, and yet all agree so closely in the arrangement and in 

 the shape and size of the spicules that it is impossible to dis- 

 tinguish more than one species. I have therefore decided to 

 group all the specimens under three varieties : — (1) Suherites 

 inconstans^ var. globosa ; (2) Suherites inconstans, var mcean- 

 drina] (3) Suherites inconstans, var. digitata. 



* " Report on a Collection of Sponges found at Ceylon by E. W. 

 Holdsworth, Esq.," Proc. Zool. Soc. 1873, p. 25. 



t " Sponges from Ceylon," Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xii. 

 p. 266. (Tliis paper is only a brief criticism of Dr. Bowerbank's.) 



X " Report on Specimens dredged up from the Gulf of Manaar," &c., 

 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 5, vol. vi. p. 35 ; " Supplementary Report 

 on tlie Specimens dredged up from the Gulf of Manaar," &c., Ann. & 

 Mag. Nat. Hist. eer. 6, vol. vii. p. 861. * 



