Bulletin 20 - Peabody Museum of Natural History - Yale University

34 A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE DEMOSPONGIAE OF JAMAICA
provided. The Red Sea sponge studied by Row certainly differs from typical specimens
of the West Indian C. vaginalis in interior structure. It had strong multispicular primary
fibers, containing 10-20 rows of spicules, and delicate, unispicular secondary fibers.
De Laubenfels (1950a, p. 57) placed Siphonochalina stolonifera Whitfield, 1901, of
Bermuda into synonymy with C. vaginalis. Whitfield, however, described the spicules of
his sponge as cylindrical, which may mean strongylote. Schmidt's Siphonchalina papyracea
(1870), often considered as a synonym of C. vaginalis, was described as having strongylote
spicules ("umspitzigen nadeln"). Since a strongylote vase-shaped species, Callyspongia
plicifera, occurs in the West Indies, the two cannot safely be taken as synonyms of
C. vaginalis.
Callyspongia plicifera (Lamarck) de Laubenfels
(Plate IV, fig. 1)
Spongia plicifera Lamarck, 1813, p. 435 [type: American seas (?); Mus. nat. Hist. nat.
Paris.]
Tuba plicifera, Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1864, p. 53; Schmidt, 1870, p. 29; Carter,
1882, p. 365.
Spinosella plicifera, Dendy, 1887d, p. 506; idem, 1890, p. 365; Topsent, 1932, p. 73.
Callyspongia plicifera, de Laubenfels, 1950a, p. 61.
[non] Patuloscula plicifera, de Laubenfels, 1936a, p. 57 (fide de Laubenfels, 1950a, p. 61.)
Spongia scrobiculata Lamarck, 1813, p. 436.
Tuba scrobiculata, Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1864, p. 53.
Spinosella scrobiculata, Topsent, 1932, p. 74.
Spinosella maxima Dendy, 1887d, p. 506; idem, 1890, p. 365.
HABITAT. Growing on coral masses in 10-15 feet of water offshore from the cays.
SHAPE. The sponge may be a single tube or a cluster of tubes. The individual tubes
may be cylindrical or, more' frequently, vase-shaped. Small hollow, open buds are often
present on the outside, and in one exceptional case, on the inside of the tube. The
sponges are typically 10-30 cm in height. The cloacal (oscular?) orifice seldom has a
diameter of less than 5 cm. In vase-shaped examples, the maximum diameter may exceed
the length of the sponge. The walls are only a few millimeters in thickness.
COLOR. A dull purple in life. In alcohol, the sponge may be a purplish or a dull
yellow, or a mixture of the two colors. Dried specimens are beige.
CONSISTENCY. Compressible.
SURFACE. The surface becomes even toward the distal end. The terminus has a thin
margin, in which a fiber reticulation is visible to the unaided eye. In some specimens,
ribs composed of longitudinal fibers project beyond the general level of the cloacal
terminus. The margin may be only a few millimeters or as much as several centimeters in
length. The remainder of the surface may vary between uneven and strongly uneven on
a single specimen. Many specimens are covered with broad blunt elevations which often
grade into longitudinal or horizontal ridges. The elevations are several millimeters in
height. The inner surface is even and pierced by numerous small oscules.
ECTOSOME. An intergrading double network of spongin fibers which are mostly unispicular.
The finer fibers are 15-30 ^ in diameter. They enclose meshes which are frequently
150-300 fx in maximum width. Coarse fibers are typically 40-150 ^ in diameter,
with parallel fibers often more than 0.5 mm apart. The longitudinal fibers of the top
margin and fibrous projections are stout (70-225 fi in diameter) and frequently multispicular.
In the latter case, the spicules form an axial core. The primaries are joined by
less robust connectives and also by thin fibers similar to those of the endosome.
ENDOSOME. The main skeleton is a wide-meshed, rounded to polygonal network of
spongin fibers. The fibers are 40-90 ^ or occasionally as much as 300 ^ in diameter. They
may be unispicular, or have a multispicular axial core. The spicules may be spaced, or they
may form a continuous line. A very irregular finer mesh joins the main skeleton and is
often interwoven with it. Its fibers are 15-30 JJL in diameter and contain spaced single
spicules.