406 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
with no evident oscula. Other specimen very irregular in shape, partly incrusting on shells, also 
associated with Hippoppongia inleslinalis; about 90 mm. long, with greatest width of 50 mm.; with 
several very small oscula, and one osculum 3 mm. diameter. According to Lendehfeld, the oscula are 
“always large and conspicuous.” Pores uniformly distributed. Conuli 1 to 2 mm. high, 1 to 3 mm. 
apart, and rather blunt. Subdermal cavities extensive having the character of tangentially disposed 
canals. Filaments abundant, and about 6 g thick in the middle. Color: exterior, a rather light 
reddish purple; grayish inside. 
Skeleton . — Main fibers about 200 g thick, and 1 to 2 mm. apart, radiate from interior. These 
filters for the most part simple, here and there becoming fascicular; cored with sand grains and 
spicule fragments. Similar foreign particles are found sparsely distributed in the connecting fibers. 
Lendenfeld says: “The connecting fibers are generally slightly branched, and are attached to the main 
fibers by two or more roots. The connecting fibers on an average are 50 g thick. The larger meshes 
are about 1 mm. wide and irregularly polygonal.” This description of the connecting fibers applies 
to parts of the Porto Rico specimens; but a commoner condition is one in which the connecting 
fibers form a reticulum with meshes 300 to 500 /t in diameter. 
Hircinia foetida (O. Schmidt) F. E. Schulze var. cuspidata, n. var. 
Sarcotrogus faticlus, O. Schmidt, 1862, p. 36. 
Hircinia foetida, F.E. Schulze, 1879 c, p.29, Taf. ii, fig.3; Taf. m, figs. 2, 3. 
Hircinia foetida, Lendenfeld, 1889, p.577. 
Station 6079, one specimen. 
Variety differs from Mediterranean type in having very small, sharp conuli; in absence of a 
differentiated axial fiber in the main bundles; in abundance of foreign bodies with which the fibers 
in general are cored; in greater diameter of the filaments. 
Sponge massive, amorphous, about 80 mm. high. Conuli about 1 mm. high, conical, and 2 to 3 
mm. apart. Several rounded oscula over upper end and over dark surface (see below), one 4 mm. 
diameter, others 1.5 to 2 mm. diameter. Filaments very abundant, 6 to 8 g thick in middle. Color, 
blackish-brown above and on one surface; basal portion, which is somewhat peduncular, and lower 
part of other surface, much lighter. 
Skeleton . — Mairr fibers radiating and projecting into conuli, densely (i. e., meshes small) fascicular; 
about 0.5 nnn. thick and 1.5 to 2 mm. apart; individual fibers often about 50 //, cored abundantly with 
sand grains, spicule fragments, and foraminifer shells. Connecting fibers freely cored with sand 
grains and some spicules, commonly about 40 g thick; forming hand-like, reticula in the plane in which 
the main fibers lie (Schulze’s figures, 2, 3, Taf. in, are characteristic). These band-like reticula in 
the Porto Rico specimen vary in radial length from 0.5 mm. to about 3 mm.; meshes fine. Between 
successive band-like reticula, large rounded meshes 1.5 to 2 mm. diameter, occupy the space separating 
the main fibers. Such meshes frequently much longer in a radial direction than wide; radial diameter 
up to about 4 mm. Connecting fibers just below dermal membrane, simple or only slightly reticular. 
Family APLYSINIILE Yosmaer. 
Skeletal fillers without inclusions and with thick and conspicuous axial core. Flagellated cham- 
bers small. 
Genus APLYSINA Nardo (1834). 
“Spongidpe with small ciliated chambers 0.025-0.035 mm. wide, and a skeleton composed of a 
loose network of pithed fibers, which are not clearly distinguished into main and connecting fibers. 
The surface is conulated and not protected by a stout sand cortex.” (Lendenfeld). 
Aplysina flagelliformis (Carter) Lendenfeld. 
Hircinia flagelliformis, Carter, 1SS6, p.373. 
Aplysina flagelliformis, Lendenfeld, 1889, p. 412. 
Station 6079, two specimens. 
Body cylindrical, branching; diameter 5 to 7 mm.; length of longest specimen 100 mm. Con- 
sistency firm, but not hard. Color, a dull dark red. “The surface is uneven or slightly undulating, 
and covered with very small conuli 0.3 min. high, which are about 1.2 mm. apart. In (lie specimens 
with more slender branches the conuli are smaller and closer together than in the stouter specimens. 
