Uolopsamma crassa

Hab. Marine.

Form of specimen massive, variable. Consistence hard, heavy, gritty, friable. Colour, when fresh, “ bright orange-yellow, ’ now light brown, varying with that of the sand of which it is composed. Surface more or less uneven, according to the form assumed by the subdermal sand. Pores in the intervals between the dermal projections, wherein the sarcode may or may not be charged with foreign material. Vents numerous and large, chiefly situated on the most projecting parts or ridges, or on the opposite side to that of the pores. Structure coarse from the large size of the grains of sand of which the species is composed. Size variable.

Obs. Examined both in the wet and dried states. The specimens of this species, which are very numerous, vary so much in shape and size that it is hardly possible to give more than the above general description of them, in which the most striking character is the coarseness and grittiness of the sand; hence the designation.

Loc. Port Phillip Heads, South Australia. Depth variable, under 20 fath.