XVII. — NOTES ON FRESHWATER SPONGES. 

 By N. AnnandaIvE, D.Sc, Superintendent, Indian Museum. 



IX. — Preuminary Notice of a Coi,i.ection from Burma, 

 WITH THE Description of a New Species of Tubella. 



The collection, of which this paper forms a preliminary account, 

 was made by myself and a native collector in Rangoon and in the 

 Amherst district of Tenasserim during the latter half of February 

 and the first half of March of the present year. The following 

 species were found:— 



Spongilla prolif evens , mihi, in ponds at Rangoon and in a lake 

 at Kawkareik, Amherst district. 

 ,, carteri, Bwk., in ponds at Rangoon and (gemmules) 

 on the surface of the lake at Kawkareik, 



Ephydatia indica, mihi, in the Moulmein waterworks and in a 

 jungle pool near Kawkareik. 



Trochospongilla latouchiana, mihi, in the lake at Kawkareik. 



,, phillottiana , mihi, in a jungle pool near Kaw- 



kareik, 



Tubella vesparioidcs , sp. nov., in the Kanghyi ( '' great pond" ) 

 at Mudon, near Moulmein, Amherst district. 



The only other form known from Burma is Kirkpatrick's 

 Spongilla loricata var. hurnianica , which was described in the last 

 number of these Records (vol, ii, p. 97). Thus, five out of the seven 

 species now known from the province are also common in Lower 

 Bengal, while only two, both widely distributed forms, have been 

 found in Western India. 



The new species of Tubella, of which a diagnosis follows, is 

 closely related to 2". vespariuin (Martens) from Borneo, differing 

 from this species in its smooth, amphioxous skeleton spicule and 

 in the deeply indented rotule of its gemmule spicule. 



Tubella vesparioides, sp. nov. 



Closely related to T. vesparium (Marts.). 



Sponge massive, without branches, hard but brittle, almost black in 

 colour (dry); the surface covered with a network of stout spic- 

 ule fibres, the interstices of which are more or less deeply 

 sunk, with sharp fibres projecting vertically upwards at the 

 nodes; the whole mass pervaded by a similar network, which 

 is composed of a considerable number of spicules lying parallel 

 to one another, overlapping at the ends and bound together 

 by a profuse secretion of spongin. Skeleton spicules rather 



