128 MR. J. T. CUNNINGHAM ON MARINE FISHES [Jan. 18, 



arching over it, but sometimes the handle also is ruptured in 

 the centre. 



I have not been able positively to identify this form with any 

 known species ; at the same time many of the latter appear to be 

 founded on insufficient characters. For the fasciculation or non- 

 fasciculation of the stem may depend on the age of the colony, 

 and the degree of annulation of the stems is usually, but not 

 always, a variable character. The mode of growth, arrangement, 

 and structure of the gonophores is a more important feature, but 

 many species have been described from colonies the gonophores 

 of which are unknown. 



The nearest related species is' E. cameum S. F. Clarke, from 

 Chesapeake Bay (Mem. Boston Soc. 1ST. H. iii. 1887, p. 137, pi. vii. 

 figs. 10-17). In the North American form several groups of 

 female sporosacs spring from a branchlet and the semicircular 

 band does not appear to exist at the distal end. Again, the male 

 sporosacs are spherical and poly thalamic. 



The genus is cosmopolitan. Numerous species occur in the 

 Atlantic ; seven are known in the British area. 



The specific characters of E. cuwmighami are as follows : — 

 The arborescent growth, fasciculated main stem, one to three 

 groups of annuli on the polypiferous branchlets, the short infun- 

 dibuliform branches bearing the oval, carinate, sessile female 

 gonophores, and the male sporosacs with bifid covers. 



PORIFERA. 



Family Chondrosid^e F. E. Schulze. 



Chondrosia plebeja O. Schmidt. (Plate VII. figs. 4-8.) 



Mr. Cunningham's collection includes one large complete 

 specimen of Chondrosia plebeja O. Schmidt, and several fragments, 

 some of which have been fixed in corrosive acetic mixture. 



The specimens were dredged from 30 fathoms off Jamestown, 

 St. Helena. 



The original specimens, on which Schmidt founded his species 

 in 1868, came from Algiers. Schmidt distinguished C. plebeja 

 from C. reniformis Nardo on account of the irregularity of the 

 surface of the former and the presence of foreign bodies on 

 the surface and in the interior. 



Schulze, in his memoir on the Chondrosidse (1877), accepted 

 C. plebeja as a species distinct from C. reniformis. He had not, 

 however, seen examples of Schmidt's species. Indeed no further 

 description of C. plebeja has been given since Schmidt's time. 

 Accordingly it is interesting to meet with well-preserved material 

 and to be able to supplement the original description. 



The complete specimen, which is shaped like a large mug with 

 a piece out of the wall, is 14*5 cm. high, 13"5 cm. in diameter 

 across the mouth, and has walls 3'5 cm. thick. The colour in 



