Sponges of Palau, I— BERGQUIST 
127 
Subfamily Stellettinae Sollas 
Genus Stelletta Schmidt 
Stelletta durissima n. sp. 
Family Tetillidae Sollas 
Genus Tetilla Schmidt 
Tetilla microxea n. sp. 
Genus Paratetilla Dendy 
Paratetilla bacca ( Selenka ) 
Genus Cinachyra Sollas 
Cinachyra australiensis ( Carter ) 
( complex of species ) 
ORDER KERATOSA Grant 
SUBORDER DICTYOCERATIDA Minchin 
FAMILY SPONGIIDAE Gray 
GENUS Spongia Linne 
Spongia officinalis Linne, 1759, p. 1348, pi. 1, 
RESTRICTED SYNONYMY: 
Spongta offidinalis Linne, 1759, p. 1348, pi. 1, 
figs. 1 and 2. 
Spongia officinalis subspecies matamata de 
Laubenfels, 1954, p. 4. 
OCCURRENCE: Sta. 60. 
REMARKS: A single specimen of this sponge 
is in the present collection. It compares well 
with the type of de Laubenfels’ S. officinalis 
subspecies matamata, USNM 23200, except that 
the primary fibres are stouter, up to 80 g in 
diameter, and more frequent than is inferred 
in de Laubenfels’ (1954) description. 
Embryos in all stages of segmentation are 
present in the specimen, and the older embryos 
are very darkly pigmented. 
No attempt is made here to evaluate the pre- 
vious records of Spongia officinalis from the 
Indo-Pacific region. It is evident that systematic 
relationships are confused in the entire genus 
and particularly in 5'. officinalis and S. zimocca. 
A careful study of more extensive collections 
than are presently available is necessary before 
affirming that all specimens referred to these 
species are correctly assigned. 
DISTRIBUTION: Mediterranean, West Indies, 
Australia, Indian Ocean, Norway ( ? ) , South 
America, Marshall Islands. 
GENUS Dactylospongia nov. gen. 
Dictyoceratida with skeleton a relatively reg- 
ular network of polygonal meshes without dif- 
ferentiation into ascending and connecting ele- 
ments. Fibres lack foreign inclusions except for 
a few isolated spicule fragments, have a granu- 
late surface texture and a faintly stratified struc- 
ture. The sponge surface is free of detritus and 
is covered with irregular conules. The dermal 
membrane between rows of conules is stretched 
over deep subdermal channels which extend for 
a considerable vertical distance. Flagellate cham- 
bers are evenly distributed throughout the endo- 
some, and are spherical and small, 24-30 /x in 
diameter. The genus is erected for the type spe- 
cies, Luffariella elegans Thiele, and is most 
closely allied to Hippospongia. 
Dactylospongia elegans (Thiele) 
Fig. la, b 
Luffariella elegans Thiele, 1899, p. 25, pi. 3, 
fig. 4, pi. 5, fig. 20. 
occurrence: Sta. 47. Palau Islands. 
DESCRIPTION: Several pieces of this sponge 
were obtained, probably all from one large col- 
ony with long thin anastomosing branches di- 
verging from a small poorly defined basal 
region. The branches are 0. 5-1.5 cm wide, up 
to 32 cm long, and many have several anasto- 
moses along their length. 
COLOR: In alcohol, dark reddish-brown, be- 
tween (rY-R2/2) and (rY-3/2). 
TEXTURE: Extremely tough and elastic, al- 
most rubbery. 
SURFACE: Coarsely conulose, with the conules 
tending to be aligned in rows between which 
the dermal membrane is stretched. In parts of 
the sponge the dermal membrane of either sur- 
face is all that connects two adjacent branches. 
In the preserved sponge the membrane is 
sunken into deep subdermal cavities which may 
be up to 4.0 cm long and 0.5 cm wide. Conules 
are irregular, squarish, multituberculate, and 
up to 0.5 cm long, 0.2 cm high, and 0.2 cm 
wide. The oscules are distributed irregularly 
over the surface of the branches and are 0.08- 
0.2 mm in diameter. Pores are absent from the 
areas where the dermal membrane extends over 
