Sponges of Hawaii — De LAUBENFELS 
263 
The other species now in Axocielita have 
rather large, commonplace palmate isochelas. 
The species kilauea also exhibits minor dif- 
ferences in the sizes and shapes of its mega- 
scleres. 
The specific name selected is that of the 
famous volcanic crater in the southern por- 
tion of the island of Hawaii. 
Phycopsis aculeata (Wilson) 
de Laubenfels 
Fig. 10 
This species is represented by U. S. 
National Museum, Register Number 22784 
(My No. H. 85), collected May 16, 1948, 
while wading, from a substrate of volcanic 
rock barely below low tide at Kaalualu. 
This sponge is massive, the fragment col- 
lected being about 1 by 2 by 3 cm. The sur- 
face is strongly hispid and lipostomous. In 
life it was dark gray with an interior much 
paler than the exterior. The consistency was 
stiff and the sponge rather easily broken. 
The ectosome, as delimited by darker color 
and somewhat denser structure, is about 
2 mm. thick. The endosome is microcaver- 
nous, also dense. 
The skeleton is composed of but a single 
sort of spicule. This is a smooth, sharply 
pointed oxea, 23 by 940 to 32 by 1,200 g or 
more. The few megascleres that are smaller 
are doubtless developmental forms. These 
spicules are sometimes in confusion, but a 
significantly large proportion of them stand 
perpendicular to the surface, with about a 
third of their length protruding from it. 
■ ‘ ^ ‘ ‘ ‘ ^ 
Fig. 10. Phycopsis aculeata: spicule, from a camera 
lucida drawing. (The scale shows 100 microns by tens.) 
This species was first described as Axinyssa 
aculeata by Wilson (1925: 445), from the 
Philippines, and was transferred to Phycopsis 
by de Laubenfels (1936: 131). 
Halichondria dura Lindgren 
Fig. 11 
This species is represented by U. S. 
National Museum, Register Number 22785 
(My No. H. 73), collected May 14, 1948, 
from a depth of 2 meters in the harbor of 
Hilo, by diving. 
This sponge is incrusting and reaches a 
thickness of about 3 mm. In life it was yellow 
and of a hard consistency. The surface is 
somewhat hispid and is lipostomous. 
The ectosome is definitely set off as a 
layer perhaps 60 g thick by the occurrence of 
extensive subdermal cavities which are 200 g 
wide and 200 g high. The endosome is of 
'Trumb-of-bread” structure with abundant 
spicules in confused arrangement. 
The skeleton consists chiefly of just one 
kind of spicule, an oxea. There is great varia- 
tion in size. Very many of these spicules, 
however, are between 20 by 650 and 27 by 
680 g. 
Fig. 11. Halichondria dura: spicules, from camera 
lucida drawings. (The scale shows 100 microns by tens.) 
The identification of this specimen is made 
with some hesitation. The hispid surface is 
not typical of Halichondria, but some portions 
of Halichondria are slightly hispid, and the 
present specimen is only slightly hispid. The 
other items are all quite typical of Halichon- 
dria. Within this huge genus, the closest to 
the Hilo sponge is dura. This was described 
by Lindgren (1897: 480) from Java. 
Rhaphisia myxa new species 
Fig. 12 
The type specimen of this species is U. S. 
National Museum, Register Number 22783 
(My No. H. 82), collected May 16, 1948, at 
Kaalualu, by wading. It was just below low 
tide on a substrate of volcanic rock. 
This sponge is incrusting and 1 to 2 mm. 
