Report on the zoological collections made in the Indo-Pacific Ocean ...

334 COLLECTIONS FROM MELANESIA.linear ridges, at the ver}' point; size about 2*6 by -21 milliin.(iv.) Smaller spicules, as (iii.), but generally more curved ; tlietubercles at the outer end are strongly developed and project forward,often giving quite a feathered appearance to the point ; sizeabout -04 by "053 to '07 millim. A variety, which may be distinguishedas var. Icevior, represented by two young specimens,has the tubercles on the larger spicules smaller, usually simple,and fewer in number.Hab. (Typical form) Port Darwin, Percy Island, and Port Molle,Queensland, depths 0-14 fms., bottom various; also McClure Gulf.New Guinea (Sfuder). Var. Icevior occurs in the Arafura Sea, offN.W. coast of Australia, 32-36 fms., and Dundas Straits, 17 fms.,bottom various.Obs. The aggregation of lobules at the surface, thougli close, isnot so close as in the type specimen of S. spinosa, Gray, in which,moreover, the spicules are much larger and the shape of the colonyas a whole more horizontal than here ;the two species, however, areclosely allied. Several specimens occur in the collection. Of thosespecies which are the best known and described hitherto, viz. theRed-Sea forms described by Kluuzinger, S. hemprichi appears to bethe most nearly allied ; it has, however, the spicule-tubercles considerablylarger in proportion, and the spicules of the stem tend tobe blunt instead of fusiform, and instead of being longitudinally,they are more or less transversely arranged.T E LEBTIN ^.6. Telesto smithi.Telesco smithii, Gray, Ann. 8f Mag. N. H, (4) iii. p. 21, fig.Alexella smithii, id. ibid. p. 22.A considerable quantity, in masses, in conjunction with Spongesand articulate Polyzoa, from the Arafura Sea. It was originallydescribed from Sydney, Xew South Wales.Hab. Arafura Sea, 32-36 fms. ; Port MoUe, Queensland, 12-20fms.PENNATULID.E.7. Pteroides javanica.Bleeker, Naftmrkund . Tijdsch. Batav. xx. p. 402 ; Kolliker, Anat.-syst. Beschreib. Alcyon., Pennat. p. 104.A very young specimen in spirit. It agrees in its chief charactersand general facies with this species, though it has only 10-12leaves on each side, and the largest leaves have only 4-6 chief rays ;these low proportions, however, are perhaps due to youth. Thestem is surrounded by a dark band opposite the lowest leaves, andby another about halfway up that part of the axis on which the