SPONGES COLLECTED IN PORTO RICO. 
407 
The oscula are 1 to 2 mm. wide, scattered or arranged more or less regularly in longitudinal rows.” 
(Lendenfeld. ) Lendenfeld’s specimens measured 8 to 15 mm. diameter, and reached a length of 
700 mm. 
Skeleton . — Skeleton is a uniform reticulum. Mesh polygonal, sometimes oval, axes about equal or 
unequal; diameter 600 // to 1.2 mm. Fiber about 100 to 120 fi thick; core commonly 0.3 of entire 
thickness, though frequently greater or less. Fiber bright amber. Macerated skeleton moderately 
compact and firm, though compressible and elastic. 
Carter (l.e., p.373) says, skeleton includes sand-cored main fibers ending in conuli on surface, 
and transparent lateral fibers “ interuniting the sand-cored filaments.” No such distinction exists in 
my specimens, which I might, therefore, conclude are not to be identified with Carter’s. Von Len- 
denfeld, however, who has examined Carter’s type specimen, does not mention this distinction in his 
diagnosis. 
Aplysina flagelliformis (Carter) Lendenfeld var. anomala, n. var. 
? Luffaria nuciformif, Duchassaing et Michelotti, 1864, p. GO, pi. x, fig. 2. 
Station 6079, one specimen. 
Specimen consists of two vase-like tubes united basally, 60 by 50 mm. and 70 by 40 mm., respec- 
tively, the narrower tube tapering below. Cavity in each tube about 10 mm. diameter, extending 
nearly the length of the tube; opening above by large terminal aperture, which is surrounded in one 
case by a rim of smooth membrane. A few small oscula about 1 mm. diameter are scattered over 
surface. Surface extremely uneven, produced into somewhat meandering rounded ridges or rounded 
outgrowths, 5 to 7 mm. wide and about as high, with depressions between. The depressions are com- 
monly a little wider than the separating ridges. At several points on the sponge surface, the ridges 
project as free subcylindrical processes, up to 20 mm. long. Such processes are in nowise different 
from short portions of the body in the elongated (typical) forms of this species. Consistency firm, 
rather fleshy above, hard below. Color, dull red. 
The surface in its finer character (alike on and between the above-mentioned ridges) is inter- 
mediate between the type and my var. rugosa. In places, especially in the more fleshy portions, the 
conuli are no higher than in Lendenfeld’s type specimens; and the ridges caused by the most super- 
ficial, tangentially lying, skeletal fibers are so slightly developed that the latter part of Lendenfeld’s 
description, “ surface is uneven or slightly undulating,” applies very well. Over most of the surface 
the conuli, which are sharp, are 0.5 mm. or something over in height, and about 1.5 mm. apart, the 
connecting ridges being feebly developed. In places the surface ridges connecting the connli are 
higher than elsewhere, and sharp-edged. Such ridges may appear as short, independent, meander- 
ing structures; or they may intersect, the furrows between the ridges thus becoming converted into 
separate, depressed, polygonal areas. In the latter case the surface acquires a honeycombed appear- 
ance; the cell-like areas having a diameter of 1.5 to 2 min., with a depth of about 1 mm. 
Skeleton . — Skeleton in color and texture is like that of the type; average diameter of the mesh 
being somewhat higher, meshes as large as 700 by 1,500 ju occurring. Fiber diameter 120- to 140 //, 
with core 0.1 to 0.15 total thickness. 
This tubular variety is closer to var. rugosa than to the specimens which I have assigned to the 
type. So close is the resemblance to var. rugosa., that if One of the projecting subcylindrical processes 
had been found as a fragment, I should undoubtedly have assigned it to this variety. 
Aplysina flagelliformis (Carter) Lendenfeld var. rugosa, n. var. 
Station 6076, one specimen; Station 6079, seven specimens. 
Body cylindrical, branching; diameter 10 to 15 mm.; greatest length 400 mm. Color, reddish 
brown to purple. Sponge hard. Skeleton a uniform reticulum. Skeletal fiber bright amber; diame- 
ter commonly 120 to 180 m, with a pith from 0.2 to 0.3 whole thickness; pith occasionally occupying 
scarcely more than 0.1 whole thickness. Diameter of the polygonal, often rounded or oval mesh, 
commonly 750 to 1,500 ju; one axis of mesh usually longer than the other. 
Over the surface small oscula 1 to 2 mm. diameter are scattered, in some cases forming longi- 
tudinal rows. Surface here and there approaches condition found in the type. In general the sur- 
face is characterized by the development of sharp ridges connecting the conuli. The ridges may, as 
in var. anomala, appear as independent meandering structures. More commonly they intersect, 
giving rise to the honeycombed surface already described as occasionally found in var. anomala. 
