GULF OF MEXICO 



265 



Colomaestir. The stomatopod, Gonodacfylus oer- 

 stedi, and small crabs may inhabit the larger 

 passages. 



Ophiuroids, particularly Ophiacth samgny, are 

 found both in surface depressions and in the larger 

 portions of the canal system. The anemone, 

 Aiptasia, appears to form depressions in the 

 surface of sponges into which it is able to retreat. 



The most destructive organism is apparently a 

 species of fungus which caused widespread and 

 intensive mortality among the Gulf of Mexico and 

 Caribbean sponges in 1939. GaltsoflF (1940) ten- 

 tatively identifies the organism as Spongiophaga 

 communis which was first observed to be parasitic 

 upon sponges by Carter (1878). Since it was not 

 possible to culture the organism, it cannot defi- 

 nitely be assigned to any particular group of 

 fungi. Further accounts of this sponge disease 

 are also given bj^ Walton Smith (1941) and by 

 Osorio-Tafall (1945). 



A number of observations have been made by 

 Galtsoff, Wilson, and others, upon the ability of 

 disassociated sponge cells to re-aggregate. This 

 earlier work is also referred to by de Laubenfels 

 (1934) in experiments upon the regeneration of 

 lotrochota. 



The growth rate of sponges has been measured 

 by Crawshay (1939) who measured the increase in 

 size of small cuttings sliced from commercial 

 sponges. He found that the velvet sponge grows 

 at such a rate as to approximately double or treble 

 its volume in the period of a year. Extensive 

 unpublished series of measurements by the present 

 author have shown that the growth expressed as 

 a percentage of size diminishes with increasing 

 size in the case of both sheepswool and velvet 

 sponges. When these sponges reach approximately 

 12 inches in diameter the central portion of the 

 upper surface begins to undergo local necrosis so 

 that the larger sizes become somewhat doughnut- 

 shaped. This is apparently due to the loss of effi- 

 ciency in respiratory, excretory, and nutritive 

 exchanges related to a diminution in the sur- 

 face/volume ratio. 



The increase in percentage growth rate with 

 decreasing size makes it possible to cultivate 

 sponges by cutting them into small pieces and by 

 planting each piece upon a stone or cement base. 

 Regeneration of the cut surfaces takes place 

 rapidly, and the sponge quickly attaches itself 

 to the stony surface. Other methods used in 



sponge cultivation are described by Smith (1949), 

 Moore (1910b), Crawshay (1939), and Cahn 

 (1948). 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Bbrgmann, Werner. 



1949. Comparative biochemical studies on the lipids of 

 marine invertebrates, with special reference to the 

 sterols. Jour. Mar. Res. 8 (2): 137-176. 

 Bidder, G. P. 



1896. The collar-cells of Heterocoela. Quart. Jour. 



Micro. Sci., N. S., 38: 9-42. 

 1923. The relation of the form of a sponge to its cur- 

 rents. Quart. Jour. Micro. Sci., N. S., 67 (2); 

 293-323. 

 Block, R. J., and Bolling, D. 



1939. The amino acid composition of keratins. Jour. 

 Biol. Chem., Vol. 127. 

 Cahn, A. R. 



1948. Japanese sponge culture experiments in the 

 South Pacific Islands. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Serv- 

 ice, Fish. Leaflet 309, 9 pp. 

 Carter, H. J. 



1878. Parasites of the Spongida. Ann. Mag. Nat. 

 Hist., Ser. 5, 2: 165-169. 

 Crawshay, L. R. 



1939. Studies in the market sponges. I. Growth from 

 the planted cutting. Jour. Mar. Biol. Assn., U. K., 

 23 (2) : 533-574. 



Galtsoff, P. S. 



1929. Heteroagglutination of dissociated sponge cells. 

 Biol. Bull. 57 (5) : 250-260. 



1940. Wasting disease causing mortality of sponges in 

 the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico. Proc. Eighth 

 Am. Sci. Cong. 3: 411-421. 



Hyman, L. H. 



1940. The invertebrates: Protozoa through Ctenophora. 

 Vol. 1, pp. 284-364, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New 

 York. 

 Laubenfels, M. W., de 



1934. Physiology and morphology of Porifera exem- 

 plified by lotrochota birotulata Higgin. Carnegie 

 Inst. Washington Pub. 435, Papers Tortugas Lab. 

 28 (2): 37-66, 2 pis., 6 text-figs. 



1936. A discussion of the sponge fauna of the Dry 

 Tortugas . . . Carnegie Inst. Washington Pub. 467, 

 Papers Tortugas Lab. 30: 1-225. 



1948. The order Keratosa of the phylum Porifera. A 

 monographic study. Allan Hancock Found. Occas. 

 Papers, vol. 3: 1-217, pis. 1-30, figs. 1-31. 

 Lendenfeld, R., Von 



1889. A monograph of the horny sponges. 936 pp., 

 50 pis. Triibner Co., London. 

 Lindner, M. J. 



1948. Mexican sponge fishery. Sponge Inst. Trade 

 Rept. 64. 

 Moore, H. F. 



1910a. The commercial sponges and the sponge fish- 

 eries. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., 1908, 28: 399-511, 

 pis. 28-66. 



