16 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. IV, January, 1950 
may merely have been juvenile forms of the 
megascleres, inasmuch as they are uncom- 
mon. There seems to be no way to discrimi 
nate between such immature forms and clear- 
cut raphides, unless the latter are so numer- 
ous that it is unlikely that they are juveniles. 
If it should happen, as I believe unlikely, that 
baeri has genuine raphides, then it should be 
transferred from Adocia to Neoadocia. This 
transfer is not here made. 
The name of this new species is derived 
from its type locality, the island of Moku O 
Loe. 
Toxadocia violacea new species 
Fig. 9 
The holotype of this species is designated 
as spirit-preserved specimen, U. S. National 
Museum, Register Number 22752. It was 
collected November 3, 1947, at Moku O Loe, 
at a depth of 1 meter, in the long pool near 
location number 3 in Figure 2. This species 
was also found growing in numerous places 
on dead coral throughout Kaneohe Bay, but 
not on the leeward side of Oahu. On the 
island of Hawaii I found it in at least two 
places near Hilo, which is on the windward 
side of that island. 
This species is basically encrusting, but the 
numerous oscules are raised on little hillocks 
about 1 cm. high. Some projections are so 
long (15 mm.) but so narrow (3 mm.) as 
to resemble fistules. Few colonies reach the 
size of the palm of the hand or a basic thick- 
ness of as much as 1 cm. The color is a vivid 
violet and the consistency is soft and fragile. 
The surface of Toxadocia violacea is 
smooth, provided with a translucent dermis 
over extensive subdermal cavities. The pores 
in this dermis are abundant, contractile, about 
30 g in diameter. The openings that lead 
down from the floor of the subdermal cavity 
are rather more conspicuous than those in the 
dermis, being readily visible through it. They 
are less numerous and are about 150 g in 
diameter. The oscules are about 3 mm. in 
diameter, and are often raised 8 to 16 mm. 
above the surface on rounded projections. 
The dermal membrane is full of spicules 
tangentially arranged, but in little more than 
one single layer. The endosome is micro- 
cavernous, permeated by an isodictyal reticu- 
lation of spicules. 
Fig. 9. Toxadocia violacea, spicules, from a 
camera lucida drawing, X 444. A, oxea. B, toxa. 
All the megascleres are smooth oxeas, 
about 4 by 120 g. A few are larger, espe- 
cially in the specimens from Hilo, where a 
size of 7 by 140 g is sometimes reached 
The microscleres are toxas, 1 by 60 /x. Some 
thin, straight spicules may be raphides, or 
juvenile megascleres, or merely edgewise 
views of toxas; they are not regarded as 
worthy of emphasis. 
There are seven other species which have 
been assigned to the genus Toxadocia. Two, 
toxins and toxophorus, are East Indian, and 
one might expect them to be the most like 
this Hawaiian species, but such is not the 
case. Each has, for example, a very peculiar 
type of toxa which differs from those of all 
others in the genus. Two species from the 
tropical Atlantic, abbreviatus and tener, have 
megascleres that are many times larger than 
those of the Pacific species. One from Great 
Britain, fallax, has large spicules, but not 
nearly so large as those from farther south. 
There are two Arctic species, primitivus and 
proximus, and these have still smaller mega- 
scleres, and approach closest of all to the 
Hawaiian Toxadocia. Their toxas are much 
larger, however, and they and all other hith- 
erto described members of this genus are 
recorded as yellow in color. Emphasis is laid 
here on the spicule differences and, particu- 
larly, on the color. The species name 
