X .— D E vS C R 1 P T I O N OF A NEW VARIETY OF 

 SPONGILLA LORIC AT A, WELTNER. 



Bv R. KiRKPATRICK. 



(Plate ix.) 



Among the unnamed and undescribed specimens of fresh- 

 water sponges in the collection of the Natural History Museum, 

 London, is a very fine example from Burma, belonging to Spon- 

 gilla loricata, Weltner, but representing a new variety of that 

 species. Weltner, who described the species in 1895 {Archiv. 

 Natuyg., 6ist year, bd. i, p. 138), had only very scanty material 

 to work with, viz., a few gemmules on shells of Mtheria from an 

 unknown locality in Africa ; some of the larger skeletal spicules 

 were adhering to the gemmules, but none of the body of the sponge 

 remained. Consequently it would be well to give a fuller description 

 of the sponge from the abundant material now available ; and , 

 further, as Dr. Annandale, vSuperintendent of the Indian Museum , 

 is bringing out a monograph of the freshwater sponges of India, 

 it is desirable to describe the specimen without further delay, so 

 that the information may be incorporated in that work. 



I have to thank Professor Dr. Weltner for his courtesy in 

 sending me two micro-slide preparations of the gemmules of the 

 type-specimen. 



Spongilla loricata, Weltner, var. burinanica, var. nov. 



1895, Spongilla loricata, Weltner, Archiv. filr Naturgeschichte, 

 6ist year, band i, p. 138. 



The specimen consists of seven firm, hard, thin slabs 

 about 7-5 mm. thick and of a pale brown colour ; when joined 

 together, the pieces cover an area of a square foot. Mr. E. W. 

 Oates, who collected and presented the sponge, writes that the 

 specimen was found encrusting the vertical and horizontal surfaces 

 of the bottom beam of a lock gate, where it covered an area of 

 six square feet. The beam had been tarred several times before 

 the sponge was discovered. 



The portion of the gate on which the sponge was growing was 

 submerged from November to May for eight hours a day at spring 

 tides, but was entirely dry during the six days of neap tides. 

 From May to October it was constantly submerged. The sponge 

 was found in April. Although the canal is subject to the tides, 

 the water at the lock is always fresh. The colour of the sponge 

 during life was the same as in its present condition. 



