II. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES COLLECTED BY THE 

 " ALBATROSS." 



Geodidae. 



Tetraxonia with rhabd, teloclade, and usually also mesoclade, megascleres, 

 and a superficial armour composed of massive, spheroidal or ellipsoidal sterr- 

 asters. Euasters are always, ataxasters or microrhabds sometimes, present. 

 Without desme megascleres and without thin, disc-shaped sterrasters. 



This family was established by Gray ' under the name of Geodiadae. It 

 has been retained by all later authors under the same or a similar name. Sollas ^ 

 included in the family the genera Erylus Gray, Caminus O. Schmidt, Pachy- 

 matisma Johnston, Cydonium Fleming, Geodia Lamarck, SjTiops Vosmaer, and 

 Isops Sollas. Later Sollas ^ substituted the name Sidonops for Sjmops. I * 

 united Cydonium with Geodia and established the new genera Caminella ° 

 and Geodinella.* The examination of the sponges collected by the "Albatross" 

 belonging to these genera shows that Erylus differs very considerably from 

 Geodia, the type genus of the Geodidae, and should form a separate family, 

 Erylidae. 



In the extent I now give the Geodidae it comprises the genera Caminella 

 Lendenfeld, Pachjnnatisma Johnston, Caminus O. Schmidt, Isops Sollas, Sido- 

 nops Sollas, Geodia Lamarck, and Geodinella Lendenfeld. 



Three of these genera, Sidonops, Geodia, and Geodinella, are represented in 

 the collection made by the "Albatross." There are eighteen different species, 

 five of which are further subdivided into thirteen varieties. 



' /. E. Gray. Notes on the arrangement of sponges. . . . Proc. Zool. soc. London, 1867, 492-558. 



^ W. J. Sollas. Tetractinellida. Rept. voy. "Challenger," 1888, 25, p. cxlvii-cxllx. 



^ W. J. Sollas. On the geodine genera Synops Vosmaer and Sidonops, a correction. Proc. Roy. 

 Dublin soc, 1889, 6, p. 277. 



' R. V. Lendenfeld. Die Tetractinelliden der Adria. Denk. Akad. wissensch. Wien, 1894, 61, 

 p. 179. 



' R. V. Lendenfelil. Loc. cit., p. 1.50. 



• R. V. Lendenfeld. Tetraxonia. Tierreich, 190.3, 19, p. 117. 



