POLYZOA***


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The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma.

Published Under the Authority of the Secretary of
State for India in Council.

Edited by A. E. Shipley, M.A., Sc.D., HON. D.Sc., F.R.S.


FRESHWATER SPONGES, HYDROIDS & POLYZOA.

by

N. ANNANDALE, D.SC.,

Superintendent and Trustee (_Ex Officio_) of the Indian Museum,
Fellow of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and of the Calcutta University.







London:
Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.

Calcutta:
Thacker, Spink, & Co.

Bombay:
Thacker & Co., Limited.

Berlin:
R. Friedlaender & Sohn, 11 Carlstrasse.

August, 1911.

Printed at Today & Tomorrow's Printers & Publishers, Faridabad




CONTENTS.

                                                                   Page

  EDITOR'S PREFACE                                                    v

  SYSTEMATIC INDEX                                                  vii

  GENERAL INTRODUCTION                                                1
    Biological Peculiarities                                          2
    Geographical Distribution                                         5
    Geographical List                                                 7
    Special Localities                                               13
    Nomenclature and Terminology                                     17
    Material                                                         20

  INTRODUCTION TO PART I. (_Spongillidae_)                           27
    The Phylum Porifera                                              27
    General Structure                                                29
    Skeleton and Spicules                                            33
    Colour and Odour                                                 35
    External Form and Consistency                                    37
    Variation                                                        39
    Nutrition                                                        41
    Reproduction                                                     41
    Development                                                      45
    Habitat                                                          47
    Animals and Plants commonly associated with Freshwater Sponges   49
    Freshwater Sponges in relation to Man                            50
    Indian Spongillidae compared with those of other Countries       51
    Fossil Spongillidae                                              52
    Oriental Spongillidae not yet found in India                     52
    History of the Study of Freshwater Sponges                       54
    Literature                                                       55

  GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN PART I.                        61

  SYSTEMATIC LIST OF THE INDIAN SPONGILLIDAE                         63

  INTRODUCTION TO PART II. (_Hydrida_)                              129
    The Phylum Coelenterata and the Class Hydrozoa                  129
    Structure of Hydra                                              130
    Capture and Ingestion of Prey: Digestion                        133
    Colour                                                          134
    Behaviour                                                       135
    Reproduction                                                    136
    Development of the Egg                                          139
    Enemies                                                         139
    Coelenterates of Brackish Water                                 139
    Freshwater Coelenterates other than Hydra                       141
    History of the Study of Hydra                                   142
    Bibliography of Hydra                                           143

  GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN PART II.                      145

  LIST OF THE INDIAN HYDRIDA                                        146

  INTRODUCTION TO PART III. (_Ctenostomata_ and _Phylactolaemata_)  163
    Status and Structure of the Polyzoa                             163
    Capture and Digestion of Food: Elimination of Waste Products    166
    Reproduction: Budding                                           168
    Development                                                     170
    Movements                                                       172
    Distribution of the Freshwater Polyzoa                          173
    Polyzoa of Brackish Water                                       174
    History of the Study of Freshwater Polyzoa                      177
    Bibliography of the Freshwater Polyzoa                          178

  GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN PART III.                     181

  SYNOPSIS OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE POLYZOA                     183

  SYNOPSIS OF THE SUBCLASSES, ORDERS, AND SUBORDERS                 183

  SYNOPSIS OF THE LEADING CHARACTERS OF THE DIVISIONS OF
    THE SUBORDER CTENOSTOMATA                                       185

  SYSTEMATIC LIST OF THE INDIAN FRESHWATER POLYZOA                  187

  APPENDIX TO THE VOLUME                                            239
    Hints on the Preparation of Specimens                           239

  ADDENDA                                                           242
    Part I.                                                         242
    Part II.                                                        245
    Part III.                                                       245

  ALPHABETICAL INDEX                                                249

  EXPLANATION OF PLATES.




EDITOR'S PREFACE.


Dr. N. Annandale's volume on the Freshwater SPONGES, POLYZOA, and
HYDRIDA contains an account of three of the chief groups of freshwater
organisms. Although he deals mainly with Indian forms the book contains
an unusually full account of the life-history and bionomics of
freshwater Sponges, Polyzoa, and Hydrozoa.

I have to thank Dr. Annandale for the great care he has taken in the
preparation of his manuscript for the press, and also the Trustees of
the Indian Museum, Calcutta, for their kindness in placing material at
the disposal of the Author.

                   A. E. SHIPLEY.
  Christ's College, Cambridge,
  March 1911.




  SYSTEMATIC INDEX.


                                            Page
  PORIFERA.

  Order HALICHONDRINA                         65

  Fam. 1. SPONGILLIDAE                        65

  1. Spongilla, _Lamarck_                     67
    1A. Euspongilla, _Vejdovsky_              69
      1.     lacustris, _auct._               69
      1_a_.  reticulata, _Annandale_     71, 241
      2.     proliferens, _Annandale_         72
      3.     alba, _Carter_                   76
      3_a_.  cerebellata, _Bowerbank_         76
      3_b_.  bengalensis, _Annandale_         77
      4.     cinerea, _Carter_           79, 241
      5.     travancorica, _Annandale_        81
      6.     hemephydatia, _Annandale_        82
      7.     crateriformis (_Potts_)          83
    1B. Eunapius, _J. E. Gray_                86
      8.     carteri, _Carter_           87, 241
      8_a_.  mollis, _Annandale_              88
      8_b_.  cava, _Annandale_                88
      9.     fragilis, _Leidy_                95
      9_a_.  calcuttana, _Annandale_          96
      9_b_.  decipiens, _Weber_               97
     10.    gemina, _Annandale _              97
     11.    crassissima, _Annandale_          98
     11_a_. crassior, _Annandale_             98
    1C. Stratospongilla, _Annandale_         100
     12.    indica, _Annandale_              100
     13.    bombayensis, _Carter_       102, 241
     13_a_. pneumatica, _Annandale_          241
     14.    ultima, _Annandale_              104
  2. Pectispongilla, _Annandale_             106
     15.     aurea, _Annandale_              106
     15 _a_.  subspinosa, _Annandale_        107
  3. Ephydatia, _Lamouroux_                  108
     16.     meyeni (_Carter_)               108
             fluviatilis, _auct._            242
  4. Dosilia, _Gray_                         110
     17.     plumosa (_Carter_)              111
  5. Trochospongilla, _Vejdovsky_            113
     18.     latouchiana, _Annandale_        115
     19.     phillottiana, _Annandale_       117
     20.     pennsylvanica (_Potts_)         118
  6. Tubella, _Carter_                       120
     21.     vesparioides, _Annandale_       120
  7. Corvospongilla, _Annandale_             122
     22.     burmanica (_Kirkpatrick_)       123
             caunteri, _Annandale_           243
     23.     lapidosa (_Annandale_)          124

  HYDROZOA.

  Order ELEUTHEROBLASTEA                     147

  Fam. 1. HYDRIDAE                           147

  1. Hydra, _Linne_                          147
     24.     vulgaris, _Pallas_              148
     25.     oligactis, _Pallas_        158, 245

  POLYZOA.

  Order CTENOSTOMATA                         189

  <DW37>. 1.    Vesicularina                    189

  Fam. 1. VESICULARIDAE                      189

  1. Bowerbankia, _Farre_                    189
         caudata, _Hincks_                   189
         bengalensis, _Annandale_            189

  <DW37>. 2. Paludicellina                      190

  Fam. 1. PALUDICELLIDAE                     191

  1. Paludicella, _Gervais_                  192
  2. Victorella, _Kent_                      194
     26.     bengalensis, _Annandale_        195

  Fam. 2. HISLOPIIDAE                        199

  1. Hislopia, _Carter_                      199
     27.     lacustris, _Carter_             202
     27 _a_.  moniliformis, _Annandale_      204

  Order PHYLACTOLAEMATA                      206

  <DW37>. 1. Plumatellina                       206

  Fam. 1. FREDERICELLIDAE                    208

  1. Fredericella, _Gervais_                 208
     28.     indica, _Annandale_        210, 245

  Fam. 2. PLUMATELLIDAE                      211

  Subfam. A. _Plumatellinae_                 212

  1. Plumatella, _Lamarck_                   212
     29.     fruticosa, _Allman_             217
     30.     emarginata, _Allman_       220, 245
     31.     javanica, _Kraepelin_           221
     32.     diffusa, _Leidy_           223, 245
     33.     allmani, _Hancock_         224, 246
     34.     tanganyikae, _Rousselet_   225, 246
     35.     punctata, _Hancock_             227
  2. Stolella, _Annandale_                   229
     36.     indica, _Annandale_             229
             himalayana, _Annandale_         246

  Subfam. B. _Lophopinae_                    231

  1. Lophopodella, _Rousselet_               231
     37.     carteri (_Hyatt_)               232
     37 _a_.  himalayana (_Annandale_)       233
  2. Pectinatella, _Leidy_                   235
     38.     burmanica, _Annandale_          235




GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE VOLUME.


Although some zoologists have recently revived the old belief that the
sponges and the coelenterates are closely allied, no one in recent times
has suggested that there is any morphological relationship between
either of these groups and the polyzoa. Personally I do not think that
any one of the three groups is allied to any other so far as anatomy is
concerned; but for biological reasons it is convenient to describe the
freshwater representatives of the three groups in one volume of the
"Fauna."

Indeed, I originally proposed to the Editor that this volume should
include an account not only of the freshwater species, but of all those
that have been found in stagnant water of any kind. It is often
difficult to draw a line between the fauna of brackish ponds and marshes
and that of pure fresh water or that of the sea, and this is
particularly the case as regards the estuarine tracts of India and
Burma.

Pelseneer[A] has expressed the opinion that the Black Sea and the
South-east of Asia are the two districts in the world most favourable
for the study of the origin of a freshwater fauna from a marine one. The
transition in particular from the Bay of Bengal, which is much less salt
than most seas, to the lower reaches of the Ganges or the Brahmaputra is
peculiarly easy, and we find many molluscs and other animals of marine
origin in the waters of these rivers far above tidal influence.
Conditions are unfavourable in the rivers themselves for the development
and multiplication of organisms of many groups, chiefly because of the
enormous amount of silt held in suspension in the water and constantly
being deposited on the bottom, and a much richer fauna exists in ponds
and lakes in the neighbourhood of the rivers and estuaries than in
running water. I have only found three species of polyzoa and three of
sponges in running water in India, and of these six species, five have
also been found in ponds or lakes. I have, on the other hand, found
three coelenterates in an estuary, and all three species are essentially
marine forms, but two have established themselves in ponds of brackish
water, one (the sea-anemone _Sagartia schilleriana_) undergoing in so
doing modifications of a very peculiar and interesting nature. It is not
uncommon for animals that have established themselves in pools of
brackish water to be found occasionally in ponds of fresh water; but I
have not been able to discover a single instance of an estuarine species
that is found in the latter and not in the former.

     [Footnote A: "L'origine des animaux d'eau douce," Bull. de
     l'Acad. roy. de Belgique (Classe des Sciences), No. 12,
     1905, p. 724.]

For these reasons I intended, as I have said, to include in this volume
descriptions of all the coelenterates and polyzoa known to occur in
pools of brackish water in the estuary of the Ganges and elsewhere in
India, but as my manuscript grew I began to realize that this would be
impossible without including also an amount of general introductory
matter not justified either by the scope of the volume or by special
knowledge on the part of its author. I have, however, given in the
introduction to each part a list of the species found in stagnant
brackish water with a few notes and references to descriptions.


BIOLOGICAL PECULIARITIES OF THE SPONGES, COELENTERATES, AND POLYZOA OF
FRESH WATER.

There is often an external resemblance between the representatives of
the sponges, coelenterates, and polyzoa that causes them to be classed
together in popular phraseology as "zoophytes"; and this resemblance is
not merely a superficial one, for it is based on a similarity in habits
as well as of habitat, and is correlated with biological phenomena that
lie deeper than what are ordinarily called habits. These phenomena are
of peculiar interest with regard to difficult questions of nutrition and
reproduction that perhaps can only be solved by a close study of animals
living together in identical conditions and exhibiting, apparently in
consequence of so living, similar but by no means identical tendencies,
either anatomical or physiological, in certain directions.

One of the most important problems on which the study of the sponges,
coelenterates, and polyzoa of stagnant water throws light is that of the
production of resting buds and similar reproductive bodies adapted to
withstand unfavourable conditions in a quiescent state and to respond to
the renewal of favourable conditions by a renewed growth and activity.

Every autumn, in an English pond or lake, a crisis takes place in the
affairs of the less highly organized inhabitants, and preparations are
made to withstand the unfavourable conditions due directly or indirectly
to the low winter temperature of the water: the individual must perish
but the race may be preserved. At this season _Hydra_, which has been
reproducing its kind by means of buds throughout the summer, develops
eggs with a hard shell that will lie dormant in the mud until next
spring; the phylactolaematous polyzoa produce statoblasts, the
ctenostomatous polyzoa resting-buds ("hibernacula"), and the sponges
gemmules