CHAPTER VIII SPONGES, COELENTERATES, AND CTENOPHORES Blank page retained for pagination THE PORIFERA OF THE GULF OF MEXICO 1 By J. Q. TIERNEY. Marine Laboratory, University of Miami Sponges are one of the dominant sessile inverte­ groups. The. floor of the Gulf between the bars brate groups in the Gulf of Mexico: they extend is sparsely populated. The majority of the ani­ from the intertidal zone down to the deepest mals and plants are concentrated on the rocky Parts of the basin, and almost all of the firm or ledges and outcroppings. rocky sections of the bottom provide attachment The most abundant sponges on these reefs are for them. of several genera representing most of the orders Members of the class Hyalospongea. (Hexacti­ of the class Demospongea. Several species of nellidea) are, almost without exception, limited to Ircinia are quite common as are Verongia, Sphecio­ the deeper waters of the Gulf beyond the 100­ spongia, and several Axinellid and Ancorinid fathom curve. These sponges possess siliceous sponges; Cliona is very abundant, boring into spicules in which (typically) six rays radiate from molluscan shells, coral, and the rock itself. The II. central point; frequently, the spicules are fused sponge population is rich both in variety and in ~gether forming a basket-like skeleton. Spongin number of individuals; for this reason no attempt 18 never present in this group. is made to discuss it in taxonomic detail in this In contrast to the Hyalospongea, representa­ r~sum~. ti\Tes of the clasa Calcispongea are seldom, if Some of the sponges of the Gulf are of world­ ~\Ter, found in deep water. These sponges, unique wide distribution, i. e., Dysidea jragilis, while 1ll having spicules of calcareous material, are usu­ others are typically West Indian, and a few are a.l1y restricted to shallow water. They are not probably restricted to the Gulf. The West Indian conspicuous; typically, they are encrusting forms sponge fauna may be a single regional population Or tubiform in shape but only a few centimeters in with only minor locational differences. Water height. currents of the Caribbean, the Gulf, and the The major sponge group in the Gulf of Mexico, southern portion of the western Atlantic off Florida both from number of genera and from the range and the Bahama Islands have been shown to of distribution, is the class Demospongea. Pos­ to carry a sponge disease from one point to many sessing more or less spongin, and when spicules others in this region; it is therefore permissible to are present having unfused spicules of siliceous suggest that the same currents would be equally lllaterial, these sponges occur throughout the Gulf effective in distributing sponge larvae. eJctending from the shallow coastal waters down The commercial sponges of Florida, the Ba.­ to the deepest off-shore sections of the basin. hamas,,Cuba. and British Honduras are all quite The sponge bars or reefs of tho eastern Gulf are similar: the sheepswool sponge, Hippwspongia quite typical of the habitat and ecology of the lachne, is the most valuable sponge now available SPonges in shallow to moderate depths. These for the market. Reef, glove, yellow, and grass sO-called reefs are sections of rocky outcroppings sponges, all members of the genus Spongia, are of that are elevated a few inches to a few feet above less value and are therefore less eagerly sought by the general bottom profile. They are more or less the sponge fishermen. densely covered with commercial and non-com­ Two methods, in general, are used in the W ~st lllercial sponges, coral (usually Oculina) , and oth~r Indian region for the collection of commerCIal .t\.lcyonaria. The bottom-dwelling marine sponges. Hooking is practiced in waters of less groups (such as mollusks, annelids, Crustacea, than 7 or 8 fathoms throughout the entire zone, ltscidians) are associated with the dominant ""'------- and light-weight, full diving rigs are used in the I COntribution No. 105, Marine Laboratory, UniversIty or ~flaml. Gulf of Mexico in depths of less than 20 fathoms. 21195340-114-18 259 260 FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FrBH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE In addition to these two major methods a few DE LAUBENFELS, M. W.-Continued native islander fishermen skiI1:'dive for sponges in 1934. New sponges from the Puerto Rican Deep. Smithsonian Misc. ColI. 91 (17): 1-28. shallow water, and a few Florida sponge fishermen 1936a. A discussion of the sponge fauna of the Dry have begun in the past few years to drag tines Tortugas in particular and the West Indies in gen­ and other types of dredges in order to obtain more eral with material for a revision of the families and sponges with less work. orders of the Porifera. Carnegie Inst. Washington As a result of the constantly decreasing supply Pub. 467, Papers Tortugas Lab. 3: 1-225, pIs. 1-22, text figs. of natural sponges there have been repeated 1936b. A comparison of the shallow water sponges ne,", attempts in the past half century to establish the Pacific end of the Panama Canal with those at sponge farms in the shallow coastal waters of the Caribbean end. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 83 (2993): Florida and the other Caribbean sponge producing 441-466, 6 figs. areas. Practical as they now a.re from a biological 1939. Sponges collected on the presidential cruise of. 1938. Smithsonian Misc. CoIl. 98 (15): 1-7, 1 fig. point of view, these farms have always failed 1948. The order KeratOBa of the phylum Porifera, a because of economic difficulties. It is now entirely monographic study. Allan Hancock Found. Oco.· possible, however, to produce artificially propa­ Paper 3, pp. 1-217, pIs. 1-30, text figs. 1-31. gated sponges as a sound commercial venture. 1949. Sponges of the western Bahamas. Am. Mus. In addition to the biological studies on the dis­ Novitates 1431, pp. 1-25, illus. tribution and growth of the Gulf of Mexico DUCHASSAJNG, DE FONBRESSIN P., and MICHELOTrJ, G. 1864. Spongiaires de la Mer Caraibe. Memoire publi6 porifera, there have been biochemical studies car­ par Ill. SocieM hollandaise des Sciences A Haarlem. ried out on the lipids, the carbohydrates, and the Natuurk. Verh. Mij. Haarlem, 21: 1-124, pis. 1-25. general chemical constitution of several of the more GALTSOFF, P. S. common marine sponges of this region. 1940. Wasting disease causing mortality of sponges in the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico. Proc. Eighth BIBLIOGRAPHY Scientific Congress 3: 411-421, 2 pis., 2 text figs. 1946. Sponges. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fishery AGASSIZ, ALEXANDER . Leaflet 4, pp. 1-7. 1888. Characteristic deep sea types. Sponges. (Prepared HIGGIN, T. from the memoirs of O. Schmidt on Atlantic and 1875. On a new sponge of the genus LujJaria, from' Caribbean sponges.) Bull. Mus. Compo Zool., 15: Yucatl1n, in the Liverpool Free Museum. With re­ 17G-179,25 figs. marks by H. J. Carter. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Rist. BARTSCH, P. Ser. 4, 16: 223-227, pI. 6. 1936. Sponge cultivation. Science, 83 (2164): 507. HYATr, A. BERGMANN, WERNER 1875. Revision of the North AmericanPoriferae; with 1949. Comparative biochemical studies on the lipids of remarks upon foreign species. Part I. Mem. Boston marine invertebrates, with special reference to the Soc. Nat. Hist. 2: 399-408, pl. 13. sterols. Sears Foundation Jour. Mar. Res., 8 (2): 1877. Revision of the North American Poriferae; witb 137-176, figs. 1-2. remarks upon foreign species.. Part n. Mem. Boston BROWN, H. H.; GALTSOFF, P. S.; SMITH, L. C.; and SMITH, Soc. Nat. Rist., 2: 481-554, pis. 15-17. F.G. W. KENT, W. S. 1939. Sponge mortality in the Bahamas. Nature, 143 • 1883. Report on the sponges of the Bahama Islands. (3628): 807-808. Aubert's Steam Printing Works. Pp. 1-18. CARTER, H. J. 1884. Catalogue of marine sponges, collected by Mr. MOORE, R. F. JOB. Willcox, on the west coast of Florida. Proc. 190811.. Commercial sponges and the sponges fisheries. Aca.d. Na.t. Sci. of Philadelphia. 36: 202-209. Bull. Bur. Fish. 28: 399-512, pIs. 28-66. COBB, J. N. MOORE, H. F. 1903. The sponge fishery of Florida in 1900. Rept. 1908b. kpractical method of sponge culture. Bull. Bur· U. S. Fish Camm. 1902. Fish. 28: 545-586, pIs. 67-76. CRAWS HAY, L. R. OLD, M. C. 1939. Studies in the market sponges. 1. Growth from 1941. The taxonomy and distribution of the boring" the planted cutting. J. M. B. A. United Kingdom sponges (Clionidae) along the Atlantic coast of North 23 (2): 553-574, 1 fig. America. Chesapeake BioI. Lab. ContT. 44, pp. 1-30, DE LAUBENFELS, M. W. 1 fig., pIs. 1-10. 1932. Physiology and morphology of Porifera exempli­ OSORlo-TAFALL, B. F., and CARDENAS, MAURO fied by Iotrochota birotulata Higgin. Carnegie Inst. 1945. Sobre las esponjlL.'1 comerciales de Quintana RoO '! Washington Pub. 435, Pap. Tortugas Lab. 28: W-66, una enfermedad que las destruye. Cienoia 6 (1): 2 pIs., 6. figs. 25-31, 2 figs. GULF OF MEXICO • 261 PtARSE, A. S. SMITH, HUGH M.-Continued 1932. Inhabitants of certain sponges at Dry Tortugas. 1899. The Florida commercial sponges. Bull. Fish. Tortugas Lab. Papers 28, Carnegie Inst. Washington Comm. 17: 225-240, pIs. 12-31. Pub. 435, 28: 'U7-124, 2 pis., 1 text fig. STUART, A. H. aolG, MARIO SANCHEZ 1948. World trade in sponges. U. S. Dept. Comm. 1945. Sponge riches of Cuba. Rev. Agric. (Havana) Indust. Ser. 82, pp. -1-95, figs. 1-6, pIs. 1-26. 28 (1): 25-32. TIERNEY, J. Q. 8CII~nDT, OSCAR 1949. The sponge industry of Florida.