“ANOXYCALYX IJIMAI.
(Plate III., fig. 7, and Plate VII., figs. 2-2g1.)
Sponge in form of a small compressed pyriform sack, with the surface studded with small conules and small flattened pyriform buds. With slender tufts of long fine diactin pleuralia and basalia. The orifice narrow and oval, with a plain rim, and without marginalia. Autodermalia stauractins (mainly) and pentactins, with the odd ray proximal, more rarely tauactins and angular diactins; hypodermal pentactins confined to the conules; autogastralia hexactins, with large microdiscohexasters, with graphiocomes, and very large strobilocomes.
The largest of the three small specimens is 2•2 cm. in the length of the body, and 7•5 cm. in total length, i.e., including the pleuralia; the greatest width is 1•7 cm. and the thickness 7 mm.; the slit-like orifice is 4 mm. in width. The largest buds attain a length of 2 mm.
The skeleton is mainly formed of bundles of diactins.
Spicules. The diactin principalia of the bundles are very slender, wavy, tapering to fine points, and roughened at the ends; a much thicker kind are isolated, or with slender comitalia. Pl. VII., fig. 2a, shows a parenchymal triactin x 150. The slender wavy pleuralia attain a length of 5 cm.
The autodermalia are chiefly stauractins (VII. 2b), with each ray 234 x 12µ, slightly spined, curved inwards, rounded at the end; occasionally these spicules have thick club-like rays (VII. 2b4).
The autodermal pentactins (VII. 2b1) are fairly numerous; the odd proximal ray is spined. Fig. 2B2 shows a tauactin. The rays of the curious angular diactins (VII., 2b3) form an angle of 60°.
The hypodermalia are pentactins (VII. 2c) with long, deeply-curved paratangential rays 1240 x 55 µ, tapering to a sharp point. In one or two instances these spicules project out a small distance, and might be regarded as basalia.
The autogastralia (VII. 2d) are hexactins with slender, sparsely-spined cylindrical rays, each 188 x 5•6µ.
Intermedia. The strobilocomes (VII. 2f, f1) are 175µ in diameter; each primary ray (13•5µ in length) ends in a cone or strobilus rounded at the distal end, and giving off a series of four verticils of long slender S-shaped rays, each tipped with a toothed disk; the verticils increase in length from below upwards, the lowest and outermost being the shortest, and the highest and innermost the longest. The plumes of the secondary rays are more loosely tufted than is the case in most other species, where the rays of the verticils and the verticils themselves are more closely packed.
The graphiocomes (VII. 2e, el) are 150µ in diameter; each primary ray is 7•25µ in length and ends in a broad disk, from the whole distal convex surface of which a diverging tuft of fine raphide-like rays is given off.
The microdiscohexasters (VII. 2g, g1) are of large size, being 60µ in diameter; the primary rays end in a circle of disk-tipped secondary rays surrounding a central cone continued into a ray ending in a disk.
The new genus is near to Lophocalyx, but differs from it and from other genera of Lanuginelliæ in having no oxyhexasters.
Pl. VII., fig. 2, shows a thin section of one of the largest buds, which has an oscule and central cavity.
The section has been made in a direction slightly oblique to the long axis, and shows the convex outer ends of the flagellated chambers; although several of these outer ends have been cut through, the artist has put them in, the figure being a combination one, and, I fear, slightly diagrammatic.
W.Q., January 2, 1904. No. 14 Hole. 329m. (180 fms.).”
(Kirkpatrick, 1907)
