. Bulletin. Natural history; Natuurlijke historie. 28 A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE DEMOSPONGIAE OF JAMAICA Shape. Thick-walled, cylindrical oscular projections arise from the base. They are typically 2-4 cm in height and 1-2 cm in diameter. Adjacent oscular lobes may be fused laterally. Slender, solid projections, cm in height, and 2-3 mm in diameter, are often present on distal parts of the sponge. Color. The living sponge is a dull purple, devoid of any reddish tinge. The sponges are drab in alcohol. Consistency. The sponge retains its shape when removed from water. It is com- pressible b
. Bulletin. Natural history; Natuurlijke historie. 28 A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE DEMOSPONGIAE OF JAMAICA Shape. Thick-walled, cylindrical oscular projections arise from the base. They are typically 2-4 cm in height and 1-2 cm in diameter. Adjacent oscular lobes may be fused laterally. Slender, solid projections, cm in height, and 2-3 mm in diameter, are often present on distal parts of the sponge. Color. The living sponge is a dull purple, devoid of any reddish tinge. The sponges are drab in alcohol. Consistency. The sponge retains its shape when removed from water. It is com- pressible but very easily crumbled. Surface. Even. The oscules are 2-10 mm in diameter. They are the openings of elongate axial cavities in the oscular lobes. Ectosome. a detachable dermal membrane is present. It is supported by a tangential, isodictyal, largely unispicular network of oxeas. Spongin is present at the nodes. The three- to four-sided meshes contain closely-spaced ostia which are 12-35 p. in diameter. A few large subdermal spaces are present. Endosome. a spicular network similar to that of the ectosome. The meshes occasion- ally have 2 or 3 rows of spicules on a side but long tracts are absent. Spicules. Oxeas, straight to slightly curved, 129-182 X 5-10 jx- Thin, sharp-pointed developmental stages are present. The mature spicules have blunt ends, and a few are styles and strongyles. The ends of many oxeas are narrow, but rounded, rather than sharp-pointed. Individual analyses, lengths in microns, 50 spicules each: 145-174; 145- 182*; 137-181; 129-179. Discussion. In form, the present species resembles the heterogeneous assemblage of sponges attributed to Haliclona implexa (Schmidt). The sponges assigned to the latter species lack a special dermal skeleton. A. chilensis (Thiele, 1905) of Chile also has oscular projections. It differs from the Jamaican species in having strongly strongylote spicules, spicule tracts and well-developed subdermal cavities. A. grossa (Schmidt), a
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