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 Bhim Tal in Kumaon (4,500 feet), and _Hydra_ is only known from the plains; but a variety of _H. oligactis_ was taken by Capt. F. H. Stewart in 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 pond situated at an altitude of about 8,000 feet; Mr. R. 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, HYDROIDS, 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 ! that the species has also been found in Europe, a $ in North America, a + in Africa, and a @ in the Malay Archipelago.]
(Baluchistan, the Punjab, and the N.W. Frontier Province.)
[Footnote C: I include Baluchistan in this territory largely for climatic reasons.]
SPONGES:-- 1. _Spongilla_ (_Eunapius_) _carteri_!@ (Lahore).
HYDROIDS:-- 1. _Hydra oligactis_!$ (Lahore).
POLYZOA:-- 1. _Plumatella fruticosa_!$ (Lahore). 2. _Plumatella diffusa_!$ (Lahore).
(Himalayas from Hazara eastwards as far as Nepal.)
SPONGES:-- 1. _Spongilla_ (_Eunapius_) _carteri_!@ (Bhim Tal). 2. _Ephydatia meyeni_@ (Bhim Tal).
HYDROIDS:--None known (_Hydra oligactis_ recorded from Tibet).
POLYZOA:-- 1. _Plumatella allmani_! (Bhim Tal). 2. _Plumatella fruticosa_!$ (Simla). 3. _Lophopodella carteri_+ (Bhim Tal).
(Sikhim, Darjiling and Bhutan, and the Lower Brahmaputra Drainage-System.)
SPONGES:-- _Spongilla proliferens_@ (Assam).
POLYZOA:-- 1. _Plumatella fruticosa_! (Kurseong and Assam). 2. _Plumatella diffusa_!$ (Sikhim). 3. _Plumatella javanica_@ (Kurseong).
(Upper Burma, Arrakan, Pegu, Tenasserim.)
SPONGES:-- 1. _Spongilla_ (_Euspongilla_) _proliferens_@ (Upper Burma, Pegu). 2. _Spongilla_ (_Euspongilla_) _crateriformis_!$ (Tenasserim). 3. _Spongilla_ (_Eunapius_) _carteri_!@ (Upper Burma, Pegu, Tenasserim). 4. _Trochospongilla latouchiana_ (Tenasserim). 5. _Trochospongilla phillottiana_ (Tenasserim). 6. _Tubella vesparioides_* (Tenasserim). 7. _Corvospongilla burmanica_* (Pegu).