Auletta elongata var. fruticosa Dendy, 1916

Auletta elongata var. fruticosa Dendy, 1916: 119, pl. II fig. 17.

The variety was described by Dendy from Dwarka, W coast of India, approximate coordinates 22.2333°N 68.95°E, depth 27–32 m (wet holotype BMNH 1920.12.9.31). Dendy provided only very little information for his reason to erect this variety. The type specimen has a “much more spreading mode of branching” than the type specimen of the typical variety (cf. Dendy 1905: 195, pl. XII fig. 7 from the Gulf of Mannar, Sri Lanka, approximate coordinates 9°N 79°E, wet holotype BMNH 1907.2.1.86). It has “considerably smaller average size” of the spicules, but details are omitted. The habitus of the typical variety of Auletta elongata is not illustrated, but described as consisting of “seven elongated sub-cylindrical tubes, branching out from each other and from the short thick stem”. The spicules are described as “very variable in form and thickness”. I do not believe the two varieties merit distinction at the species level, and propose to consider the var. fruticosa as a junior synonym of A. elongata . Without discussing the status of the variety, Dendy himself (Dendy 1922: 121) confirmed this by adding the name of the present variety under Auletta elongata Dendy, 1905 .