Sponges of Hawaii — De Laubenfels 
Eurypon have such microscleres, but not 
others in Mkrociona. The color is also unique; 
most species of Mkrociona are red. The extent 
to which the ectosomal spicules make sym- 
metrical bouquets is also somewhat unusual 
in this very large genus. 
The name which is here selected is that of 
the huge volcanic mountain Mauna Loa. 
Mycale maunakea new species 
Fig. 7 
The type specimen of this species is U. S. 
National Museum, Register Number 22781 
(My No. H. 75), collected May 14, 1948, in 
Hilo Harbor near Coconut Island at a depth 
of about 2 meters, by diving. 
This sponge is incrusting, about 1 mm. 
thick. In life it was translucent, pale pink, and 
soft. It exhibited some recognizable oscules 
about 200 n in diameter. 
The ectosome is a transparent dermis, 50 to 
75 M thick, containing many microscleres but 
no megascleres. The endosome contains 
abundant spicular tracts which never anasto- 
mose and almost never branch. At the distal 
termination of each column, just under the 
dermis, the spicules of each tract diverge 
slightly, making dermal tufts which are much 
like miniature brooms. Such tufts are com- 
monplace. These isolated non-reticulate tracts 
are 30 to 40 ji diameter and about 100 to 
200 apart. 
C ~~ ■ A 
f 
I I 1 ^ t- » I I I I I 
Fig. 7. Mycale maunakea: spicules, from camera 
lucida drawings. A, Tylostyle; B, sigma; C, palmate 
anisochelas. (The scale shows 100 microns by tens.) 
The megascleres are smooth tylostyles 2 
by 160 to 6 by 240 fx, often 5 by 210 ji. The 
microscleres include sigmas 37 to 42 in 
chord length and palmate anisochelas of 
peculiar shape. They are nearly isochelas. 
261 
which is remarkable inasmuch as intermedi- 
ates between isochelas and anisochelas are 
rare. They are very narrow with almost no 
lateral development on their convex side. 
Their lengths range from 13 to 22 ju. 
Earlier (1950: 24) I identified a common 
sponge of Oahu as Mycale cecilia. It, too, is 
an incrusting sponge with narrow isochelas. 
But the microscleres in the Oahu sponge are 
quite commonplace in shape, and its tylo- 
styles have unusually long heads, whereas the 
megascleres of the Mycale from the island of 
Hawaii are distinctive. At the moment it does 
not appear that any other species of Mycale 
has the utterly non-reticulate structure char- 
acteristic of the new species maunakea, and no 
other has chelas of the same peculiar shape. 
Those most nearly the same are found in 
Mycale sulcata Hentschel (1911: 307) (Aus- 
tralian and East Indian), but this species is 
digitate (not incrusting), has styles (not 
tylostyles), and has trichodragmas and two 
size ranges of chelas. 
The name which is here selected is that of 
the extinct volcano Mauna Kea, which 
dominates the island of Hawaii. 
Carmia contarenii (Martens) de Laubenfels 
Fig. 8 
This species is represented by U. S. 
National Museum, Register Number 22787 
(My No. H. 84), collected May 16, 1948, at 
5 
A 
drawings. A, Tylostyle head and point, but the mid- 
portion is not shown; B, toxa; C, large and small 
sigmas; D, palmate anisochelas. (The scale shows 100 
microns by tens.) 
