Dysidea ramsayi (Lendenfeld, 1888)

Lendenfeld (1888) described Dysidea ramsayi from the Chatham Islands as a hard, irregular, meandrically-folded lamellar sponge, diameter 140 mm, with 2 mm diameter oscules situated on one face of the lamella. The primary fibres were very knotty and charged with sand-grains, about 250 µm diameter; connecting fibres contain scattered foreign bodies, 100 µm thick (after Lendenfeld 1888). As there are no illustrations of this species in Lendenfeld (1888) and the species is not treated in detail in Lendenfeld (1889), histological examination of the material is required to determine the integrity of this species. In the meantime, the species is considered recognisable, and thus valid, on the basis of the unique morphology and texture.