| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Dysideidae |
Dysidea etheria |
5 |
Usually made of soft, erect and tangled branches, rather transparent, navy blue; scattered oscules with transparent collars; when oscules are on top of branches, they appear as tubes. Can be also encrusting or massive. |
de Laubenfels, 1936 |
blue,pink-lilac,branching,massive,encrusting,tube,bushy,lobate,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Dysideidae |
Dysidea janiae |
4 |
Creamy pink groups of crumbly tubes, often attached to gorgonians. Its skeleton is made up of the red alga Jania adherens with spongin and there are varaious kinds of foreign spicules embedded in the tissue. Florida specimens tend to be a bit more fleshy than those from the Bahamas and their interior is contrastingly orange-yellow; coincidentally, two specimens examined had as the only "foreign" spicule a straight, thin oxea (150-350 µm), but not distributed throughout the tissue. However, we cannot rule the possibility that the Florida specimens belong to a different species which also uses Jania algae as supporting skeleton (see also Hyrtios? sp. in this guide). |
(Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) |
pink-lilac,cream,orange-yellow,tube,lobate,crumbly,soft,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Dysideidae |
Dysidea? sp. |
2 |
Light pinkish to bluish, thickly encrusting, with prominent conules. Specimens lost for taxonomic identification; they may not be the same species. They look similar to some specimens of Dysidea etheria. |
|
blue,pink-lilac,encrusting,massive,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Dysideidae |
Pleraplysilla sp. |
7 |
Thin, greenish to yellowish to orangy soft crusts with characteristic raised oscular collars and exhalant canals. It becomes dark bue to purple upon exposure to air. This is an undescribed species. As as skeleton it only has vertical, undivided fibers loaded with debris. |
|
gray,yellow,green,pink-lilac,orange,encrusting,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Irciniidae |
Ircinia campana |
7 |
Inverted cones with relatively thin walls. Sometimes as thicker vases or as fans (incomplete tubes), or as masses with an upper depression. External surface with low conules. Internal survace with aligned or scattered circular oscules. Color tan to light brown to dark brown. Consistency very tough, difficult to cut. Strong odor of sulfur and garlic. No spicules. Skeleton of ascending and diverging primary fascicles of fibers interconnected perpendicularly by secondary fibers. All fibers with embedded. Spongin fibrils characteristic of the genus are present throughout the tissue. Species absent in the Bahamas. |
(Lamarck, 1816) |
cinnamon-tan,gray,cream,vase,fan,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Irciniidae |
Ircinia felix-brown, dark oscules, massive morphotype |
9 |
Massive in shape. Oscules usually spread over the surface, sometimes in groups. Surface conulose .Its color can be dark brown to light brown to grayish, with characteristic darker oscular rims; cryptic specimens can be decolored. Whether the various morphotypes of what is called Ircinia felix are different species remains to be determined. This form may be what Rützler (1988) calls I. felix forma felix in Bermuda. |
(Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) |
white,gray,brown,cream,cinnamon-tan,encrusting,fan,massive,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Irciniidae |
Ircinia felix-whitish, dark oscules, sprawling morphotype |
18 |
Thinly encrusting, sprawling to erect, with oscular mounds, ridges or branches. Surface with low conules; oscules usually on top of conical elevations or aligned on ridges. Creamy to grayish color and oscules with a dark rim. Whether the various morphotypes of what is called Ircinia felix are different species remains to be determined. This form may contain in part be what Rützler (1988) calls I. felix forma fistularis (Verrill, 1907) from Bermuda. |
(Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) |
white,gray,brown,cream,cinnamon-tan,branching,encrusting,tube,fan,massive,lobate,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Irciniidae |
Ircinia sp.-black and smooth morphotype |
4 |
Massive to lobate, jet black, often smooth, with scattered oscules. Surface may be conulose on the sides. Presence of spongin fibrils and sulfur/garlic smell confirmed it to be an Ircinia; fibers are not as cored by foreign material as the other species of Ircinia. Found growing near I. strobilina black and they are easily distinguished. Smaller I. strobilina appear to have large conules like the adults. It may be confused with Hyrtios cavernosus. |
|
black,massive,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Irciniidae |
Ircinia sp.-creamy/dirty morphotype |
18 |
Thckly encrusting to massive, sometimes irregular. It usually has large conules, sometimes interconnected by ridges. The color is dirty yellow to cream. Oscules are dark, scattered or in groups. This group may comprise specimens of various Ircinia species, whose surface embedds a lot of sediment and thus appears dirty. |
|
brown,cream,cinnamon-tan,gray,massive,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Irciniidae |
Ircinia sp.-tigrina morphotype |
11 |
Globular sponges with large and packed conules. Color usually creamy or grayish, or light brown. Oscules are usually grouped on top, on a depression, but can conform scattered groups. There are often groups of pores on the sides of the sponge, but this may not unique to this species. It is what Vacelet (1990) calls Ircinia sp. from St. Barthelemy, dubbed by him Ircinia "tigrina" (pers. comm.). It may also conform to what Rutzler (1988) calls I. felix forma acuta (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864), although van Soest (1978) had considered it to be I. strobilina. |
(Lamarck, 1816) |
white,brown,cream,cinnamon-tan,black,spherical,massive,lobate,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Irciniidae |
Ircinia strobilina |
28 |
Massive, globular, large. Jet black (shiny) or grayish (opaque) black. Large conules often connected by ridges. Oscules often grouped on the top, located in a large depression in larger individuals. There are two individuals included tentatively here (24, no photo; 134, photo), pending further work. |
(Lamarck, 1816) |
gray,black,massive,fan,spherical,lobate,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Spongiidae |
Hyattella cavernosa |
3 |
Also named Hyattella intestinalis (Lamarck, 1814) (a name from the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific). Semiburied masses crown with irregular processes and lobes, gray to black on top, gray to cream on the sides and in buried parts. Areas of semitransparent skin pierced by fields of holes are common. The material examined from the Bahamas possess the characteristic Spongiidae (commercial sponge) primary (cored) and secondary reticulation, plus the tertiary reticulation supporting the dermis in some parts. Not to be confused with Hyrtios cavernosus sensu Wiedenmayer (1977), which is a different species also included here, which may need a different name as the latter author believed it was conspecific with Pallas' Spongia cavernosa. |
(Pallas, 1766) |
gray,black,cream,green,encrusting,massive,lobate,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Spongiidae |
Spongia sp. "obscura" shaggy |
4 |
Black, laterally flattened or rounded mounds. Flattened ones with oscules aligned on tops; rounded ones with scattered oscules. Oscules with a conical collar. Surface shaggy with fiber ends. Interior brick red. Spongin fibers thinner than in other Spongia of this guide, in a more packed reticulation. Definite identification pending. |
(Hyatt, 1877) |
black,massive,lobate,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Spongiidae |
Spongia sp. "obscura" smooth |
7 |
Black, smooth mounds, often quite rounded but can be laterally expanded. Oscules scattered or aligned, with a conical collar. Interior color creamy. Fibers thicker than Spongia sp. "obscura" shaggy. Definite identification pending. |
(Hyatt, 1877) |
black,massive,encrusting,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Spongiidae |
Spongia sp. "tubulifera" fouled |
7 |
Globular masses. Skin color is black, but appears heavily fouled in between scattered oscules, which can be elevated as chimneys; they end in a conical collar. Interior creamy white. Fiber similar to Spongia sp. "obscura" smooth, thicker than Spongia sp. "obscura" shaggy. Definite identification pending. |
Lamarck, 1813) |
black,massive,tough,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Thorectidae |
Hyrtios cavernosus |
11 |
Correspondos to what Wiedenmayer (1977) called Hyrtios cavernosus, but it is not the original Hyatella cavernosa (Pallas, 1766, as Spongia), which is a different, valid species with the typical skeleton of a commercial sponge [also known as Hyatella intestinalis (Lamarck, 1814) by some Caribbean authors]. Massive to rounded, sometimes encrusting, with oscules elevated by a conical smooth membrane. Surface usually conulose, with smooth areas or skin over subdermal spaces, sometimes with fields of pores. Dark-gray exterior, cream interior. It is spongy, usually easy to tear. It smells slightly like sponge of the genus Ircinia (garlic and sulfur), but does not have spongin fibrills. Fasciculated and striated spongin fibers. Primaries with debris, often fasciculated; secondary inteconecting usually clean; fibers not have as much debris as H. proteus Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864, which is jet black in the field in other areas of the Caribbean. It may need a new name, or a thorough search for one in the older literature and collections. |
sensu Wiedenmayer (1977) |
gray,black,massive,encrusting,lobate,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Thorectidae |
Hyrtios proteus |
3 |
Black mass with volcano-shaped oscular mounds; surface with a honeycomb pattern of fiber endings. Interior cream. Consistency relatively soft, as it can be easily cut with a knife. This is a tentative designation, pending revision of more material. In other areas of the Caribbean H. proteus tends to be thickly encrusting to massive with oscules aligned and does not tend to form volcano-like elevations. It concurs in having a dermis and thick primary spongin fibers filled with sand grains. Secondary interconnecting fibers are not too evident and apparently far apart. |
Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 |
black,gray,tube,massive,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Thorectidae |
Hyrtios sp.-gray amphora |
4 |
Gray, amphora-like sponges arising from cave ledges and bending towards the outside. Oscular rim narrow, smooth; surface often fouled, with a low-profile honeycomb pattern. Consistency compressible, but not too elastic, somewhat difficult to tear. Skeleton of ascending and interconnecting spongin fibers filled with sand grains and foreign material; surface with a network of sand grains, leaving only pore spaces. Should be compared to Hyrtios tubulatus Lehnert & van Soest, 1998, for which there only exists dry material. It could also be a growth form (cave?) of Hyrtios cavernosus sensu Wiedenmayer, 1977 (also pictured in this guide), as it shares with it the gray color and the skeletal architecture. There are small-juvenile? Stages similar to this one in Ircinia strobilina (see photos therein). |
|
gray,green,cream,tube,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Thorectidae |
Hyrtios violaceus |
7 |
Also known as Oligoceras hemorraghes de Laubenfels, 1936. Sprawling, irregular, soft masses of interconnected repent fingers or blunt ridges with slightly elevated oscules located on top. Color brownish to purplish. Exudates purple ink but only sometime after collection. |
(Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) |
black,brown,purple-violet,massive,encrusting,tube,lobate,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Thorectidae |
Hyrtios? sp. |
2 |
Black cushions, smooth to lowly conulose. It uses a branching red coralline algae as skeleton. Different from Dysidea janiae (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) in color and shape. Generic and species identity pending further work. |
|
black,massive,tough,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Thorectidae |
Smenospongia aurea |
17 |
Massive, often forming groups of adjacent oscular mounds or volcanos. It becomes dark and exudes abundant mucus when handled. There are three color morphs of this species: drab to brown skin-yellow oscules-yellow flesh; light greenish skin-yellow green oscules-yellow green flesh; yellow skin and interior. Two different species are readily distinguished in the Caribbean, often co-existing: S. aurea and S. conulosa Pulitzer-Finali, 1986. It is distinguished from S. conulosa by the honeycomb pattern of the dermis resting on fibers while in S. conulosa the primary fibers ends at the surface form blunt projections not connected to each other. A possibly third species, vivid parrot green in color is also included in this catalogue. There is considerable taxonomic confusion regarding S. aurea, with many names still available, which persist owing to the similarity among fixed, type specimens. Older names that may fit into this species are those of Duchassaing & Michelotti (1864, Spongia musicalis, Spongia cerebriformis), and also younger Polyfibrospongia echina de Laubenfels, 1934. |
(Hyatt, 1875) |
gray,yellow,green,cream,cinnamon-tan,branching,tube,massive,lobate,tough,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Thorectidae |
Smenospongia conulosa |
23 |
Massive, with oscular mounds or volcanoes, Bright to dark green to brown black or gray. It becomes dark and exudes abundant mucus when handled. Distinguished from S. aurea (Hyatt, 1875) by having blunt ends of primary fibers protruding on the surface, while the surface of S. aurea forms a honeycomb pattern of ridges. These primary fibers are also wider apart than in S. aurea. S. aurea fibers are also wider, especially the secondary reticulum, with many characteristic rectangular meshes (longer axis perpendicular to de surface). |
Pulitzer-Finali, 1986 |
green,brown,gray,black,tube,massive,lobate,vase,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Thorectidae |
Smenospongia sp.-black massive |
1 |
Black, massive, tough, with a strongly warty surface. It releases abundant mucus and darkens in air as other species of the genus. It is close to Smenospongia conulosa Pulitzer-Finali, 1986, which is usually dark green. But the fibers of this species are much thicker than those of S. conulosa, hence its greater toughness. |
|
black,spherical,massive,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Thorectidae |
Smenospongia sp.-parrot green |
3 |
Massive, parrot green exterior, yellow interior. Color becomes dark purple upon exposure to air. Abundant mucus release. Surface with low, regularly scattered protrusions which correspond to the end of groups of primary skeletal fibers. Skeleton of clear, tough, laminated spongin fibers arrranged in a more or less regular reticulation, which is somewhat condensed in the areas that protrude to the surface.The fibers are of similar thickness to those of Smenospongia conulosa Pulitzer-Finali, 1986, but the reticulation appears more fine. Fibers are not as wide to those of Smenospongia aurea (Hyatt, 1875). We initially placed this parrot green morphotype as part of the variation of S. conulosa, being dominant in some areas. But as we found the two morphotypes growing together with S. aurea and S. conulosa, and clearly distinct in color and shape, we decided to place it as a separate, yet unidentified species. The old literature must be searched for a possible available name before deciding whether it is a new, undescribed species. |
|
green,tube,massive,tough |
