D. SC., N ANNANDALE

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SPONGES FROM BRACKISH WATER ON VERLA TENISLAND NEAR KRAKA TAU.ByN. ANNANDALE, D. Sc.,(Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta).In his interesting account of the fauna of Krakatau and the neighbouringislands Dr. K. W. DAMMERMAN I) refers to a sponge found in a small lakerecently shut off from the sea on Verlaten Island. The wa'ter of this lakevaries in salinity with the seasons, naturally becoming much fresher in therainy season, while the salinity is increased by evaporation in the dry season.Thus in April, 1920 the· proportion of salts (at what temperatureis not stated)was 20.6°100'while in October, 1921 it was 29.0°100'In a small pool on theshore of the lake the corresponding salinities were 12.85°I00 and 27.9°/0;'Dr. DAM.MERMANhas been kind enough to send me the specimensof spongescollected by himself and Dr. SUNIER in brackish water on. the island, whileProfessor MAX WEBER has sent me others from Amsterdam. Among themI find examples of four species:-LaxosuberiteslacustrisANNANDALE, var. collaris, nov.,Reniera~inerea(GRANT),Mycale;relicta,sp. nov.,Amorpl1inopsisexcavansCARTER, var. mollis, novoThe first of these species was only known hitherto from a lagoon ofbrackish water of very variable salinity on the eastcoastof Peninsular India.It is a species in which both. gemmules and embryos seem to be peculiarlyadapted for a life in water of low salinity 2). The gemmules are capableof being transported by the wind, but probably not for very greatdistances.The species probably occurs in the open sea, though it has been found asyet only in brackish water. It would be bery interesting to know whetherits reproductive bodies are similar' in different types of environment. Unfor-tunately neither gemmules nor embryos are present in the specfmens fromVerlaten Island, the spicules of which are sufficiently different from thoseof the forma typicato justify the description of a new variety.The Renierais apparently identical with a species originally describedfromBritish seas but since recorded both from the Arctic Region and thetropicalP~acific. There is no previous record of its occurrence in brackish water;1) DAMMERMAN, Treubia Ill, p. 89, fig. 2 (1922).2) ANNANDALE, Mem. Ind. Mus. V, p. 48, fig. 11 (1915) ... ..•.ANNANDALE: Spongesfrom VerlatenIsland. 403Amorphinopsisexcavanswas originally described by CARTER 1) fromthe Mergui Archipelago, off the coast of Burma. It was known to him asa boring species in dead coral, or rather, as I have shown elsewhere 2),as an invader of the excavations made by Cliona. The species is, however,porymorphlc and other phases or varietieshave been described from the ~oast-of Burma and from a creek in the Malay Peninsula 3). In the lattersituationthe water, though tidal, may have beena little brackish. The sponge was foundto be able to endure partial desiccation for considerable periods at low tide.The Mycale is apparantly an undescribed species. I do not know thegenus as an inhabitant of brackish water in the East, but there are manyspecies on the coasts of India and Malaysia. I found three living togetherin Madras harbour 4).The type-specimens of the new species and varieties have beenretainedin the Indian Museum, Calcutta,which schizotypes have beenFeturnedto Java:Fam. SUBERITIDAE.Laxosuberites lacustris, ANNANDALE.Several very small specimens consisting of delicate films on fragmentsof pumice seem to represent a variety of this species.L. lacustriswas only known hitherto from the Chilka Lake on the eastcoast of Peninsular India, where it was found in brackish and evenfresh water.var. collaris, novoThe structure of the sponge is identical with that of the forma typica,but the spicules are rather larger on an average(though there is considerablevariation in this respect in specimens from the Chilka Lake), include a largeproportion of slightly curved tylostyles and are distinguished almost in-variably b~ the presence of delicate ring or collar round the base of the head,o~-c-cc:-=====:;::======='====="Fig. 1. Spicules of LaxosuberiteslaCllstrisYar. collaris,novoThe upper complete spicules X 375.The lower complete spicules X 250.Heads further .enlarged (X 375).') CARTER, journ. Linn. Soc. (Zoo!).XXI, p. 77, pI. Y, figs. 12-15 (1889).2) ANNANDALE, Rec.Ind. Mus. XI. p. 467, figs. 4,5 (1915).3) ANNANDALE, Men{Asiat. Soc.Bengal VI, p. 198. pI. ii, fig. 3; p. ix fig. 1.4) ANNANDALE, Rec. Ind. Mus. X, p. 150(1914).404 TREUBIA VOL. V, 4.o•• which is often acuininate or heart-shaped, rarely quite spherical. The axialfilament is conspicuous in most spicules. The largest spicules are as muchas 0.8 in length or even slightly longer.This form is probably allied to L. proteus,HENTS~HEL I), but differsfrom all the varieties of that species in the horizontal course of the spicule-fibres immediately below the epidermal membrane. '.The specimens were collected by Dr. DAMMERMANin the lake on VerlatenIsland in October, 1921, when the salinity of the water was 29%0,Fam. HAPLOSCHERIDAE.Renieracinerea(GRANT).1866. Isodictya cinerea,BOWERBi\NK, Mall. Brit. Spong. II, p. 241, and III,pI. XLVIII, figs. 1, 5.1902. Reniera cinerea,LUNDBECK, Ingotf-Exp. 'VI, Porifera I, p. 43, pI.XI, fig. 10.lt is without muchdoubtthatI refertothis cosmopolitan speciesseveralsmall,colourless fragments collected among algae in the lake on Verlaten Island withsomesmall Ophiuroids in October, 1921,presumablyin water of a salinity of 17.9.The generalstructureof thesefragments,so far asit canbeseen,agreeswellwith BOWERBANK'Sdescription, while the outlines,and particularly the curvature of the spiculesresemble those of LUNDBECK'S figures. The pro-portions of the spicules are somewhat variableand they may be slightly larger than those ofL\)NDBECK'S specimens, but the Danish author'sstat~menton this point is not very precise andthere is considerable variation in different speci-mens. The following measurements have been. Fig. 2. Spicules of Renierataken by my assIstant Mr. H. SRINIVASA RAO on cinerea (Grant) X 250.a series of spicules from Verlaten Island:-Length Max. Diam.0.156 0.00720.168 0.00800.148 0.00800'.180 0.00720.172 0.00720.160 0.0080Scattered in the parenchyma there are numerous small rounded bodiescovered densely with spicules resembling those of the skeleton but muchsmaller. They are probably embryos.I) HENTSCHEL in MICHAELSEN and HARTMEYER's Faima Sildwest-AustraliensII,p. 389,figs. 20-23 (1910).,«......'IIn\.\ ANNANDALE:Sponges/tom Verlaten Island. 405•• R. cinerea,thoughnot found hitherto,so far as I am aware,in brackishwater, is evidentlya speciescapableof adaptingitself to very diversetypesof environment.It has been taken in fairly deep but warm water off thePhilippines and also on the coastof Spitzbergenand in Davis Strait.Fam. DESMACIDONIDAE.Mycale relicta,sp. novoThe only specimenofthisspeciesI haveexaminedis somewhatmacerated,having beenpreservedin formalin. It was attachedto a stickwithspecimensof Balanus amphitrite var. formosus and with a small branchingalga thebranchesof which permeatedthe sponge,which seemsto havebeenmassiveor possibly plumose, of small size,' (not exceeding3 em. in maximumdiameter),soft and without well-definedoutlines.The colour in formalin ispale grey with a pinkish tinge.The arrangementof the spiculesand fibresis renderedobscureby the bad stateof preservation,butthefibresespeciallytowardsthe periphery,evidentlyoriginatedfromthebranchesof algaverymuchin the sameway as thoseof M. mytilorumdofromworm-tubesin thesponge'(~NNANDALE,op. cit., 1914,pI. xi, figs. 2, 3).Therearethreetypesof spicules,viz.,tylostyles,anisochelaeand sigmata,all ofwhich exceptthe tylostyles(megascleres)are ratherscarce.Tyl 0styl es.Thesespiculesconstitutethe skeleton. They are slender,straightand rathershort, with a broadlyoval,notclearly differentiated,headwhich mergesgraduallyinto the shaft.This is somewhatcontractedfor some distancebelow thehead and then gradually expands to abreadth slightly greaterthan that of thehead,the broadestpoint beingsituatedalittle below the middle of the spicule,which tapersfrom this point to a sharptip. The outline is sometimesa littleirregular. The axial filament is distinctFig. 3.Spicules of MycaJe relicia, sp.novo and often slightly dilated in the head.Tylostyles and Slgmata X 250..Anisochelae X 700. The lengthvanesfrom0.216to0.383mm.and the maximumdiameterof the'shaft from 0.0072to 0.01mm.Ani s0cheIae. They are notarrangedin rosettesbutscatteredsomewhatsparingly in the parenchyma.They are very small (0.02- 0.026mm. inlength)and are remarkablefor their small hoods and for the way in whichthe extremityis producedinto a sharp point in lateralviewandoftenslightly406 TREUBIA VOL. V, 4.retroverted. The hood is pressed in rather close to the. shaft. It is short andbroad in anterior view. The other retroverted extremity of the spicule israther short, sometimes blunt in lateral view and sometimes produced intoa fine point, as a rule twisted a little to one side. The whole structure ofthe spicule is simple.S i g mat a. These are scarce but appear to be less so in some parts ofthe parenchyma than in others. They are slender, (especially towards the tips),rather small, C-shaped, sometimes a little contorted or even S-shaped intheir long axis. The greatest length varies, measured from point to point onthe curve, from 0.044 to 0.6 mm.What appear to be gemmules in an early stage of development arescattered through the sponge.H abit at. Small lake of brackish water on Verlaten Island, near Krakatau,Malay Archipelago (A. SUNIER coIL, 27-29. iv.'19). DAMMERMANgives thesalinity of the water at the time as 22.80100'Fam. AXINELLIDAE.Amorphinopsis excavans CARTER.This sponge (the genus of which is of very doubtful systematicposition.but certainly synonomous with Spongosorites,TOPSENT 1) seems to be poly-morphic. On each occasion on which it has been found it has occurred !na different variety or phase. The forma typica (CARTER. 1889) occupies andenlarges the burrows of Cliona in dead coral in the Mergui Archipelago offthe coast of Tenasserim, the form digitifera (ANNANDALE, 1915) grows onrocks on the shore of Tavoy Island off the same coast and produces com-pressed finger-like processes, while the form robinsoni(ANNANDALE, 1918)encrusts the wooden piles of a pier up a creek on the west coast of the MalayPeninsula. A specimen from Verlaten Island represents yet a fourth form.A. excavansappears to be related to DENDY'S Spongosoritestopsenti2)from Ceylon, but the spicules of that species are ·much shorter and oftenmore irregular than in any of the varieties of CARTER'S species.var. mollis.The only specimen I have examined forms an almost spherical massabout 5 em. in diameter but with many fragments of pumice and at leastone bivalve shell in its interior. A single patent osculum of ovai fotln, 2 mm.x 1.5mm. in greater and smaller diameter, is situated on one side on a low,broad, rounded eminence. The form of the sponge is more massive, thestructure more cavernous and the consistency softer than that of the othervarieties described and the ectosomeappears to be moredelicate. The spicules"'-.. I) TOPSENT, Mem.Zool. Soc.France IX, p. 117(1896)and Arch.Zool.Exp.et.gen.(3) VIII, p. 265 (1900).2) DENDY in HEDMAN'S, CeylonPearl FisheriesIll, p. 182, pl. xii, fig. I.•• 0 •ANNANDALE: Spongesfrom VerlatenIsland.,,!407agree closely with those of the typical form except that none of the styliare quite so large as the largest in that form.This specimen was found by Dr. DAMMERMAN in the lake on VerlatenIsland. It was appareritly attached to fragments of pumice. The date wasOct. 25., 1912, when the water had a salinity of 290/00 the highest found atany season.The typical form of the species and the var. digitifera were found inthe sea, but the water in which the encrusting form robinsonioccurred tome was probably brackish, at any rate in floods.The drawings of spicules reproduced in this paper have been preparedunder my supervision by Mr. H. SRINIVASA RAO and BABU D. N. BAOCHI,to whom my best thanks are due.

SPONGES FROM BRACKISH WATER ON VERLATEN ISLAND NEAR KRAKATAU.

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SPONGES FROM BRACKISH WATER ON VERLATEN ISLAND NEAR KRAKATAU.

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