L £U-lv«l fij- b.& L - I * M //V/ I ( 1 Yl iV V^V'. i j.E.A;> j THE FAUNA "OF BRITISH INDIA, INCLUDING CEYLON AND BURMA. Pl’BLISHED l \X1) EH THE A CTIIORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF State for India in Council. EDITED BY A. E. SHIPLEY, M.A., Sc.D., HON. D.Sc., E.ll.S. PRES ATER S H Y D RttJRS L Z 0 A GES, 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 UNIYERSITY. LONDON: TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. CALCUTTA : THACKER, SPINK, & CO. BOMBAY: THACKER & CO., LIMITED. BERLIN : R. ERIEDLANDER & SOHN, 11 OARLSTRASSE. August, 1911, 3 3t%" PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. C 0 N T E N T S. Editor’s Preface Page v Systematic Index 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. ( Spongillidce ) The Phylum Porifera General Structure Skeleton and Spicules Golpur and Odour External Form and Consistency Variation Nutrition Reproduction Development Habitat Animals and Plants commonly associated with Freshwater Sponges Freshwater Sponges in relation to Man Indiau Spougillidfe compared with those of other Countries. Fossil Spongillidie Oriental Spongillidse not yet found in India History of the Study of Freshwater Sponges Literature 27 27 29 33 35 37 39 41 41 45 47 49 50 51 52 52 54 55 Glossary of Technical Terms used in Part I Systematic List of the Indian Sfongillidje 01 03 IV CONTENTS. Page Introduction to Part II. ( Hydrida ) 1*29 The Phylum Ccelenterata and the Class Ilydrozoa .... 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 Ccelenterates of Brackish Water 139 Freshwater Ccelenterates 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 140 Introduction to Part III. ( Ctenostomata and Phylactulcemata). 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 Stud}' 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 1 242 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 fresh- water 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. Christ’s College, Cambridge, March 1911. A. E. SHIPLEY. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/b21352756 SYSTEMATIC INDEX, Page P0R1FERA. Order HALICHONDRINA 65 Fam. 1. Spongileid^e 65 1 Spongilla, Lamarck 67 I a. Euspongilla, Vejdovsky 69 1. lacustris, auct 69 1 a. reticulata, Annan- dale 71,241 2. proliferens, Annandale 72 3. alba, Carter 76 3 a. cerebellata, Bower- bank 76 3 b. bengalensis, Annandale 77 4. cinerea, Carter 79, 241 5. travancorica, Annan- dale 81 6. hemephydatia, Annan- dale 82 7. crateriformis (Potts) 83 1 b. Eunapius, J. E. Gray 86 8. carteri, Carter 87, 241 8 a. mollis, Annandale .... 88 8 b. cava, Annandale .... 88 8 c. lobosa, Annandale 89 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 1 c. Stratospongilla, Annan- dale 100 12. indica , Annandale ... 100 13. bombayensis, Car- ter 102,241 13 a. pneumatica , A nnan - dale 241 14. ultima, Annandale , 104 2. Pectispongilla, Annandale 106 1. aurea, Annandale .... 106 1 a. subspinosa, Annandale 107 3. Ephydatia, Lamouroux .... 108 1. meyeni ( Carter ) .... 108 2, fluviatilis, auct 242 4. Dosilia, Gray 110 1. plumosa ( Carter ) .... Ill 5. Trochospougilla, Vejdovsky 113 1. latouchiaua, Annan- dale 115 2. phillottiana, Annan- dale 117 3. peDnsylvanica (Potts) 118 0. Tubella, Carter 120 1 vesparioides, Annan- dale 120 7. Corvospongilla, Annandale 122 1. burmanica (Kirk- patrick) 123 2. caunteri, Annandale. 243 3. lapidosa (Annandale) 124 HYDROZOA. Order ELEUTHERO - BLASTEA 147 Fam. 1. Hydbid^e 147 1. Hydra, Linne 147 1. vulgaris, Pallas .... 148 2. oligactis, Pallas 158, 245 POLYZOA. Order C’TENOSTOMATA 189 Div. 1. Vesicularina 189 Fam. 1. Vesicularid^e 189 1. Bowerbankia, Farre 189 1 caudata, Hincks .... 189 1 a. bengalensis, Annan- dale 189 Div. 2. Paludicellina 190 Fam. 1. Paludiceleid^. .... 191 1 Paludicella, Gervais 192 2. Victorella, Kent 194 1. bengalensis, Annan- dale ... 195 vm SYSTEMATIC INDEX. Page Fam. 2. Hislopiidas ] 99 1. Hislopia, Carter 199 1. lacustris, Carter .... 202 1 a. moniliformis, Annan- dale 204 Order PHYLACTOLaEMATA 200 Div. 1. Plumatellina 200 Fam. 1. Fredericellidje. , 208 1. Fredei'icella, Gervais 208 1. indica, Annandale 210,245 Fam. 2. Pli t mateeuda 2 .... 211 Subfam. A. Plumatellina .... 212 1. Plumatella, Lamarck 212 1. fruticosa, Allman 217 2. emarginata, All- man 220, 245 Page 1. Plumatella [coni.). 0. javanica, Kraepelin 221 4. diffusa, Leidy 223, 245 5. allmani, Hancock. 224, 240 0. tanganyikae, Rous- selet 225, 240 7. punctata, Hancock 227 2. Stolella, Annandale 229 1. indica, Annandale. 229 2. himalayana, Annan- dale 246 Subfam. B. Lophopince 231 1. Lophopodella, Ronsselet .... 231 1. carteri ( Hyatt ) 232 1 a. himalayana ( Annan- dale ) 233 2. Peetinatella, Leidy 235 1 burmanica, Annan - dale 235 gener| TOW|E VOL INTRODUCTION 'Cal 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 polvzoa. 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 * 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 * “ L’origine des animaux d’eau douce,” Bull, de 1’Acad. roy. de Belgique IClasse des Sciences), No. 12, 1905, p. 724. 2 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 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 con- stantly 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 scliilleriana) 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. 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, Ccelenterates, and Polyzoa of Fresh Water. There is often an external resemblance between the repre- sentatives 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 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 3 regard to difficult questions of nutrition and reproduction that perhaps can only be solved by a close study of animals living together in identicrd 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 quies- cent 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 phylactokematous polyzoa produce statoblasts, the cteno- stomatous polyzoa resting-buds (“ hibernacula ”), and the sponges gennnules. Statoblasts, hibernacula, and gemmules are alike produced asexually, but they resemble the eggs of Hydra in being provided with a hard, resistant shell, and in having the capacity to lie dormant until favourable conditions return. In an Indian pond or lake a similar crisis takes place in the case of most species, but it does not take place at the same time of year in the case of all species. Unfortunately the phenomena of periodic physiological change have been little studied in the fresh- water fauna of most parts of the country, and as yet we know very little indeed of the biology of the Himalayan lakes and tarns, the conditions in which resemble those to be found in similar masses of water in Europe much more closely than they do those that occur in ponds and lakes in a tropical plain. In Bengal, however, I have been able to devote considerable attention to the subject, and can state definitely that some species flourish chiefly in winter and enter the quiescent stage at the beginning of the hot weather (that is to say about March), while others reach their maximum development during the “rains” (July to September) and as a rule die down during winter, which is the driest as well as the coolest time of year. I! 2 4 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. The following is a list of the forms that in Bengal are definitely known to produce hard-shelled eggs, gemmules, resting-buds, or statoblasts only or most profusely at the approach of the hot weather and to flourish during winter : — Spongilla carteri. Spongilla alba. Spongilla alba var. bengalensis. Spongilla crassissima. Hydra vulgaris. Victorella bengalensis. Plurnatella fruticosa. Plumatella emarginata. Plurnatella javanica. The following forms flourish mainly during the “ rains ” : — Spongilla laeustris subsp. reticulata. Trocliospongilla latouchiana. Trochospongilla phUlottiana. Stolella indica. The following flourish throughout the year : — Spongilla prolif evens. Ilislopia laeustris. It is particularly interesting to note that three of the species that flourish in the mild winter of Bengal, namely Hydra vulgaris, Plumatella emarginata , and P. fruticosa, are identical with species that in Europe perish in winter. There is evidence, moreover, that the statoblasts of the genus to which two of them belong burst more readily, and thus give rise to new colonies, after being subjected to a considerable amount of cold. In Bengal they only burst after being subjected to the heat of the hot weather. Does extreme heat have a similar effect on aquatic organisms as extreme cold ? There is some evidence that it has. The species that flourish in India during the rains are all forms which habitually live near the surface or the edge of ponds or puddles, and are therefore liable to undergo desiccation as soon as the rains cease and the cold weather supervenes. The two species that flourish all the year round do not, properly speaking, belong to one category, for whereas Hislopia laeustris GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 5 produces no form of resting reproductive body but bears eggs and spermatozoa at all seasons, Spongilla prolif evens is a short-lived organism that undergoes a biological crisis every few weeks ; that is to say, it begins to develop gemmules as soon as it is fully formed, and apparently dies down as soon as the gemmules have attained maturity. The gemmules apparently lie dormant for some little time, but incessant reproduction is carried on by means of external buds, a very rare method of reproduction among the freshwater sponges. The facts just stated prove that considerable specific idiosyn- crasy exists as regards the biology of the sponges, hydroids, and polyzoa of stagnant water in Bengal ; but an even more striking instance of this phenomenon is afforded by the sponges Spongilla bombayensis and Corvospongilla lapidosa in Bombay. These two sponges resemble one another considerably as regards their mode of growth, and are found together on the lower surface of stones. In the month of JNovember, however, C. lapidosa is in full vege- tative vigour, while C. bombayensis, in absolutely identical con- ditions, is already reduced to a mass of gemmules, having flourished during the “ rains.” It is thus clear that the effect of environ- ment is not identical in different species. This is more evident as regards the groups of animals under consideration in India (and therefore probably in other tropical countries) than it is in Europe. The subject is one well worthy of study elsewhere than in India, for it is significant that specimens of S. bombayensis taken in November in S. Africa were in a state of activity, thus contrasting strongly with specimens taken at the same time of year (though not at the same season from a climatic point of view) in the Bombay Presidency. Geographical Distribution of the Indian Species. The geographical distribution of the lower invertebrates of fresh and of stagnant water is often am extremely wide one, probably because the individual of many species exists at certain seasons or in certain circumstances in a form that is not only resistant to unfavourable environment, but also eminently capable of being transported by wind or currents. We therefore find that some genera and even species are practically cosmopolitan in their range, while others, so far as our knowledge goes, appear to have an extraordinarily discontinuous distribution. The latter G GENERAL INTRODUCTION. phenomenon may be due solely to our ignorance of the occurrence of obscure genera or species in localities in which they have not been properly sought for, or it may have some real significance as indicating that certain forms cannot always increase and multiply even in those localities that appear most suitable for them. As an example of universally distributed species we may take the European polyzoa of the genus PlumateVct that occur in India, while of species whose range is apparently discontinuous better examples could not be found than the sponges Trochospongilla pennsylvanicci aud Spongilla craleriformis, both of which are only known from N. America, the British Isles, and India. My geographical list of the species of sponges, ccelenterates, and polyzoa as yet found in fresh water in India is modelled on Col. Alcock’s recently published list of the freshwater crabs (Potamonidm) of the Indian Empire*. I follow him in accepting, with slight modifications of my own, Blanford’s physiographical rather than his zoogeographical regions, not because I think that the latter have been or ought to be superseded so far as the vertebrates are concerned, but rather because the limits of the geographical distribution of aquatic invertebrates appear to depend on different factors from those that affect terrestrial animals or even aquatic vertebrates. “ Varieties ” are ignored in this list, because they are not con- sidered to have a geographical significance. The parts of India that are least known as regards the freshwater representatives of the groups under consideration are the valley of the Indus, the lakes of Kashmir and other parts of the Himalayas, the centre of the Peninsula, and the basin of the Brahmaputra. Those that are best known are the districts round Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Bangalore, Travaucore and Northern Tenasserim. Little is known as regards Ceylon, and almost nothing as regards the countries that surround the Indian Empire, a few species only having been recorded from Yunnan and the Malay Peninsula, none from Persia, Afghanistan, or Eastern Turkestan, and only one from Tibet. Professor Max W eber’s researches have, however, taught us something as regards Sumatra and Java, while the results of various expeditions to Tropical Africa are beginning to cast light on the lower invertebrates of the great lakes in the centre of that continent and of the basin of the Nile. * Cat. Ind. Dec. Crust. Coll. Ind. Mus., part i, 1'asc. ii (Potamonidae), 1910. GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 7 It is not known to what altitude the three groups range in the Himalayas and the hills of Southern India. No sponge has been found in Indian territory at an altitude higher than that of Bhirn Tal in Kutnaon (4,500 feet), and Hydra is only known from the plains; but a variety of II. oligactis was taken by Capt. F. H. Stewart iu Tibet at an altitude of about 15,000 feet. Plumatella diffusa flourishes at Gangtok in Sikhim (6,100 feet), and I have found statoblasts of P. fruticosa in the neighbourhood of Simla on the surface of a poud situated at an altitude of about 8,000 feet ; Mr. B. Kirkpatrick obtained specimens of the genus in the Botanical Gardens at Darjiling (6,900 feet), and two species have been found at Kurseong (4,500-5,000 feet) in the same district. GEOGRAPHICAL LIST OF THE FRESHWATER SPONGES, 11YDROIDS, AND POLYZOA OF INDIA, BURMA, AND CEYLON. [A * indicates that a species or subspecies has only been found in one physiographical region or subregion so far as the Indian Empire is concerned ; a t that the species has also been found in Europe, a § in North America, a * in Africa, and a © in the Malay Archipelago.] 1. Western Frontier Territory *. (Baluchistan, the Punjab, and the N.W. Frontier Province.) Sponges : — Polyzoa : — 1. Spongilla{Eunapius)carteri\® 1. Plumatella fruticosa t§ (Lahore). (Lahore). __ 2. Plumatella diffusa ( Lahore). Hydroids : — 1. Hydra oligactis^ (Lahore). 2. Western Himalayan Territory. from Hazara eastwards as far as Nepal.) (Himalayas Sponges : — 1. Spongilla(Eunapius)carteri t® (Bhim Tal). 2. Ephydatia meyeni © (Bhim Tal). Hydroids: — None known {Hydra oligactis recorded from Tibet). Polyzoa : — 1. Plumatella allmani f (Bhim Tal). 2. Plumatella fruticosa t § (Simla). 3. Lophopodella carter i * (Bhim Tal). * I include Baluchistan in this territory largely for climatic reasons. 3 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 3. North-Eastern Frontier Territory. (Sikhim, Darjiling and Bhutan, and the Lower Brahmaputra Drainage-System.) Sponges : — Spongilla proli/erens © (Assam). Hydroids : — None known. POLYZOA : — 1. Plumatella fruticosa f (Kur- seong and Assam). 2. Plumatella diffusa\§ ( Sikhim ) 3. Plumatella javaniea © (Kur- seong). 4. Burma Territory. (Upper Burma, Arrakan, Pegu, Tenasserim. Sponges : — 1. Spongilla ( Euspongilla ) proli- ferens © (Upper Burma, Pegu). 2. Spongilla ( Euspongilla ) cra- teriformis f § (Tenasserim). 3. Spongilla ( Ennapius)carteri + © (Upper Burma, Pegu, Tenas- serim). 4. Trochospongilla latouchiana (Tenasserim). o. Trochospongilla phillottiana (Tenasserim). C. Tubella vesparioides * (Tenas- serim). 7. Corvospongilla lurmanica * (Pegu). Hydroids : — 1. Hydra vulgaris f§ (Upper Burma and Tenasserim). Polyzoa : — 1. Plumatella emarginata f§ (Pegu, Upper Burma). 2. Plumatella allmani\ (Tenas- serim). 3. Pectinatella harmonica (Tenas- serim). 4. Hislopia lacustris (Pegu). 5 a. Peninsular Province — Main Area. (The Peninsula east of the Western Ghats.) Sponges: — Hydroids: — 1. Spongilla ( Euspongilla ) la - custris subsp. reticulata (Orissa, Madras). 2. Spongilla ( Euspongilla ) proli- fer ens © (Madras). 3. Spongilla ( Euspongilla ) alba it (N. Madras, Orissa, Hydera- bad). 4. Spongilla ( Euspongilla ) hem- ej> hydatia * (Orissa). 5. Spongilla ( Euspongilla ) cra- teriformis f§. 6. Spongilla ( Eunapius ) cart- er i f ©. 7. Spongilla {Eunapius) gemina* (Bangalore). 8. Spongilla (Strato spongilla) bombayensis X (Mysore). 9. Eosilia ptumo s a (N. Madras). 1. Hydra vulgaris +§. Polyzoa: — 1. Plumatella fruticosa t (Ma- dras, Bangalore). 2. Lophopus (? Lophopodella), sp. (Madras). 3. Pectinatella but manica (Oris- sa). 4. Vietorella bengalensis (Ma- dras) 5. Hislopia lacustris (Nagpur).