History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

524 ZOOPHYTA. SPONGIADiE. Halichondria.portions, especially towards the mai'gin, and produces a cracked surface whendrying.108. H. hifundibuliformis.— Widely funnel-shaped, thin,uniform, and brittle ;spicula long, linear, and pointed.Spong. inf. Linn. Syst. i. 1296. Jameson, "VVern. Mem. — 562. NorthernIslands rare.Body cup-shaped, when dry tender ; nearly of uniform thickness ;thepores are not half the size of the preceding "species, the substance is softer,and the spicula shorter and less matted.dry ;** Inhabitingfreshzvater. Spongilla of Lamarck.109. H. fluviatilis.— Soft, brittle, and slenderlyfibrous whenspicula linear and doubly pointed.S. fluv. Linn. Syst.i. 1 299— Pallas, El. 384—S. friabilis, Grant, Edin.Phil. Journ. xiv. 270—In rivers and lakes.Massive, with the surface rising into narrow ridges or pointed branches ;sometimes slenderly branched and acuminated (then constituting the S. canaliumof Gmelin ;Flem. Phil. Zool. ii. 614. t. v. f. 4.)The fibrous structurevery obvious, the fibres fine, and diverging from the centre ; pores small.110. H. lacustris.— Hard, brittle, and coarselyfibrous ;spiculalinear, and doubly pointed.S. lac. Linn. Syst.i. 1299. Don's Animals of Forfarshire, 36.— In lakesin Angus and Fife.Massive, rising into short rounded branches ;the fibres are coarser, andthe substance denser than the preceding ;the spicula, too, though similar inform, are thicker, and about one-fourth shorter. It is difficult to determinethe true place of the two fresh water Sponges noticed by Tlay, under thetitles " Spongia ramosa fluviatilis" and " Spongia fluviatilis ramosa fragilis."—Syn. Stirp. 30.Gen. XLIV. SPONGIA.— Porous, the cartilaginousskeletonsimple,or destitute of earthy spicula.111. S. pulchella.— Massive, irregular, consistingof finelyreticulatedsimple fibres.Sower. Brit. Misc. t. xliii—Southern and western coasts.The texture is open, pervious to the light, the surface muricated by thefree extremities of the fibres ;these have an ascending direction, and frequentlyanastomose, forming irregular meshes.Gen. XLV. GRANTIA.— Porous, the cartilaginousskeletonstrengthened by calcareous spicula.I have venturedto dedicate this genus to Dr Grant,to commemorate hisvaluable services in elucidating the physiology of sponges,alreadyreferred to.112. G. comprcssa.— Subtubular, compressed,with simple,terminal, and lateral orih'ces ;spicula of two kinds, triradiateand clavate.