[XIII.] 

 THE SPONGES OF FUNAFUTI. 



BY THOMAS WHITELEGGE, 

 Zoologist, Australian Museum. 



THE collection of sponges obtained by Mr. 0. Hedley, though 

 small, is nevertheless interesting. 



There are sixteen species ; of these the following six are 

 described as new Spinosella glomerata, Gellius aculeatus, Clathria 

 pellicula, Agelas gracilis, Ciocalypta incrustans, and Polymastia 

 dendyi. 



Of the above Agelas gracilis is the most interesting, as it widens 

 the range of the genus. With the exception of an outlier 

 recorded from Mauritius and doubtfully from Tristan d'Acunha, 

 this genus has hitherto only been known from the West Indies. 



The remaining ten species are 



Reniera australis, Lendenfeld, Reniera sp.* which may prove to 

 be a variety of Reniera rosea, Bowerbank, Halichondria solida, var. 

 rugosa, Ridley and'Dendy, Echinodictyum asperum, Ridley and 

 Dendy, of the latter rare and curious species there are two very 

 fine examples, Acanthella stipitata, Carter, A. pulcherrima, Ridley 

 and Dendy, Spirastrella papillosa, Ridley and Dendy, Euspongia 

 irregularis, var. silicata, Lendenfeld, Hippospongia dura, Lenden- 

 feld, and Spongelia Jragilis, var. irregularis, Lendenfeld. 



The species in many cases are represented by single examples. 



The smaller specimens had been placed in a solution of four or 

 five p.c. formol, which proved insufficient for their proper preser- 

 vation. They reached me in a soft and slimy state, too soft in 

 fact to handle with safety, and before a hand-section could be cut 

 they had to be hardened in alcohol. In consequence of their 

 imperfect preservation and their transference to alcohol, the 

 specimens had some of their characters destroyed, which rendered 

 their exact determination unusually difficult. 



Mr. Hedley has kindly supplied the following field notes : 



" To a collector accustomed to the sea beaches of temperate 

 zones, and especially to the shores of Sydney Harbour, the 

 absence of large or conspicuous sponges on the reefs of Funafuti 

 is very marked. Rocky shelves and ledges which in England or 



* Identical with No. 42, Voy. "Alert," p. 410. 



