213 



Appendix. 



NOTES on some SPONGES collected by Professor 

 Herdman off the West Coast of Ireland from the "Argo." 



By Kichard Hanitsch, Ph.D., 



DEMONSTRATOR OF ZOOLOGY IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LIVERPOOL. 



With Plates XI and XII. 



The Sponges dredged by Professor Herdman from the 

 S.Y. " Argo " on the west coast of Ireland were only a few 

 in number and small, but there were some very interesting 

 forms amongst them, and all were in a state of splendid 

 preservation. There were altogether ten species, five of 

 which (including all the rarer forms) were attached to one 

 small piece of rock dredged off the Arran Islands. 



Ascetta coriacea, FL, var. osculata. 



The flat, encrusting form of Ascetta coriacea, with its 

 beautiful basket-like structure, has long been known, and 

 has been described by Montagu, Johnston, Bowerbank, 

 and Carter. These authors, as well as Grentzenberg, in 

 his recent paper,* did not find any oscula in their speci- 

 mens. This form is frequently met with in Liverpool 

 Bay. Apparently much rarer is the erect variety of our 

 species, with its comparatively large oscules placed upon 

 distinct conules. It was first figured by Ha3ckel,t but as 

 he has not given a special name to the variety, I propose 

 to call it A. coriacea, var. osculata. The collection con- 

 tains four or five small specimens, which were attached to 



" Die Spongienfanna der Ostsee. Inaugural Dissertation. Kiel, 1891. 

 t H;eckel, Die Kalkschwieinme, vol. iii., pi 3, tigs. 13, 16, 17, 19, 20. 



