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Spongasteriscus cruciferus
Clark and Campbell, 1942
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Description - Add description
Spongasteriscus (Spongasteriscinus) cruciferus
Arms at equal distances, forming a regular Greek cross, two of the arms longer than those at right angles to them, the space between the arms filled with spongy tissue so that the quadrants are closed, the spongy tissue not, however, forming a patigium; spongy tissue very dense, with very small meshes and thick bars; central disc about a quarter of the length of a major arm in diameter. Length, 190-310 µ; width, 160-220 µ; arms, 50-90 µ.
This very abundant species is extremely variable, and the writer's photographs illustrate something of this deviation in form and have been selected from a considerable suite of specimens. Figure 1 may be taken as typical, and Figures 5, 10, and 18 are common forms. Figures 11 and 16 are distinctly abnormal individuals. Figures 2 to 4 are small forms with the arms obscured by overgrowth of the spongy reticulum.
Spongasteriscus cruciferus n.sp. is close to ovatus Haeckel (1887), from 11° 24' N. , 143° 16' E., and differs from it in proportions and regularity and is not egg-shaped. Its arms are not club-shaped as in clavatus Haeckel (1887), there is no distal spine as in mucronatus Haeckel, and the arms are not forked as in furcatus Haeckel (1887) and armatus Haeckel (1887). | | Clark and Campbell 1942 |
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