154 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XIX, April 1965 
FIG. 1 6b. Callyspongia ridleyi Burton. Detail of 
the dermal skeleton. 
but these are neither discussed in detail nor fig- 
ured by Hentschel. 
DISTRIBUTION: Malay Area (Hentschel); Pa- 
lau Islands ( de Laubenf els ) . 
ORDER POECILOSCLERIDA Topsent 
SUBORDER PHORBASIFORMES de Laubenfels 
FAMILY ADOCIIDAE de Laubenfels 
GENUS Adocia Gray 
Adocia turquoisia de Laubenfels 
Adocia turquoisia de Laubenfels, 1954, p. 106, 
fig. 67. 
OCCURRENCE: Sta. 92. 
DESCRIPTION: The specimen is damaged. It 
grows as a system of irregular tubes, each with a 
terminal oscule; some tubes are laterally placed. 
COLOR: In alcohol, pale creamy yellow (yY-R 
6/4). 
TEXTURE: Soft, the sponge easily compres- 
sible. 
SURFACE: Smooth, and has a plain, but irregu- 
lar, reticulate pattern outlined by stout tangen- 
tial fibres in a subdermal position. Oscules are 
large, 4.0-5 .0 mm in diameter, and are terminal 
on all branches. 
SKELETON : The dermal skeleton is a unispic- 
ular isodictyal reticulation of oxeas with regular 
triangular meshes, 75-87 /* from apex to base. 
The unispicular isodictyal pattern is repeated in 
the endosomal skeleton, where small patches of 
spongin cement the spicule points. Running 
vertically through the endosome are occasional 
multispicular tracts, 12.5-62/* in diameter. These 
only rarely branch in the body of the sponge. 
Immediately below the dermal membrane they 
branch repeatedly in a tangential plane and form 
a conspicuous and irregular mesh in which the 
large tracts are up to 100/* in diameter. The finer 
branches of this subdermal network delimit the 
pore areas which are overlain by the dermal 
skeleton. 
SPICULES: Slightly curved or straight, evenly 
pointed oxeas 70-100 X 1 .8-4.5/*. 
ENDOSOME: Contains abundant, spherical, 
flagellate chambers, 30-3 6/* in diameter. Abun- 
dant developing egg cells are present; these are 
oval, up to 350 X 250/*, with extremely promi- 
nent nuclei and granular cytoplasm. 
DISCUSSION: The type description of Adocia 
turquosia de Laubenfels makes no reference to 
the multispicular tracts below the dermal mem- 
brane. These are present, however, in the para- 
type (Bishop Museum 149), and the form of 
the latter is not incompatible with that of the 
fragments from the Palau Is. The oscules are 
similar, terminal on poorly developed lobes in 
one case, aligned along the upper surface of a 
branch in the other. 
DISTRIBUTION: Palau Islands; Marshall Islands 
(de Laubenfels). 
GENUS Toxadocia de Laubenfels 
Toxadocia violacea de Laubenfels 
Fig. 17 
Toxadocia violacea de Laubenfels, 1950, p. 16, 
fig. 9. 
OCCURRENCE: Sta. 10. 
DESCRIPTION: The sponge is loosely encrust- 
ing (0.8 cm thick) upon specimens of Coelo- 
carteria singaporense and is badly damaged; only 
one or two fragments of the dermal membrane 
remain. No oscules are visible. 
COLOR: In alcohol, grayish. 
TEXTURE: Extremely soft, and tends to fall 
apart at the touch. 
SURFACE: Smooth; the dermal membrane 
supports a tangential dermal skeleton arranged 
as a unispicular isodictyal reticulum. 
SKELETON: Basically a unispicular isodictyal 
reticulation the regularity of which is broken in 
places by alignment of spicules at right angles 
to the surface. Where this aggregation of spic- 
ules occurs the matrix is always more darkly 
