New Species and Records of Hawaiian Sponges 
M. W. de Laubenfels 1 
Three previous papers on Hawaiian 
shallow-water sponges have appeared in 
Pacific Science (de Laubenfels, 1950, 1951, 
1954). Repetition is here avoided, and it is 
assumed that the reader has consulted the 
earlier articles, especially that of 1950, on the 
sponges of Kaneohe Bay, Oahu. All of the 
sponges that are common about Oahu are 
described and named in that paper, and the 
key that is given there should be adequate. 
Further keys are inappropriate, because it is 
clear that almost any conceivable kind of 
sponge may be discovered in the next dredge 
haul. The present paper is based on three 
years’ study, but it should be emphasized 
that even during the third year additional 
species were easily found. 
Few references to the sponges of Oahu 
occur in the literature. Dr. C. H. Edmondson 
of the B. P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu has 
published (1946) on the reproduction of 
Tethya , but this is not a faunal paper. Casual 
references to sponges from Oahu occur, as 
discussed below, in some writings of Lenden- 
feld and Haeckel. A further reference may 
here be made to a paper by R. Baar (1903). 
He had a specimen "from Honolulu” that he 
identified (p. 30) as Stelospongia lordii Lenden- 
feld. Lendenfeld’s species was a sponge from 
the Red Sea, and was described so vaguely 
that it might be a Dysidea or an Ircinia , or 
probably a Polyfibrospongia , but not even its 
generic allocation is clear. Baar’s specimen 
1 Department of Zoology, Oregon State College, 
Corvallis, Oregon. Manuscript received January 19, 
1956. 
was a macerated fragment that had lost all 
the significant bases for its identification. 
From his description one cannot even be sure 
to what family it belonged. 
A bit of philosophy is indicated. Many 
sponge specimens are found in sea or on 
shore that cannot be identified. Often the 
sponge skeleton coheres for months after 
death, losing its characteristics bit by bit. 
Pathologic as well as moribund sponges get 
collected. Beach-worn skeletons flourish in 
museums. The author has been urged by mu- 
seum authorities to identify EVERY spec- 
imen, when sound judgment indicated other- 
wise. Both Lendenfeld’s and Baar’s specimens 
above mentioned should have been frankly 
reported as unidentifiable, thus sparing the 
printer and reader alike. 
DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES 
Haliclona flabellodigitata Burton 
The sponge thus identified was dredged 19 
February 1948 from a depth of fifty meters, 
three kilometers south of Pearl Harbor. It was 
semi-incrusting, with convoluted lobes that 
were about 1 mm. thick. The entire sponge 
was not much more than 1 mm. thick, and 
covered an area about 1 cm. square. The color 
in life was whitish orange and the consistency 
was soft. The surface was not hispid, and (as 
is common in small sponges) no pores nor 
oscules were evident. There is no ectosomal 
specialization. The flagellate chambers are 
scattered, and generally about 35 microns in 
diameter. The skeleton comprises a few spic- 
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