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UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



Almost all of these sponges are found in shallow temperate waters on pilings 

 or rocks or in tidepools. Leucoselenia is one of the most common of the colonial 

 or branched forms, and Grantia is an "urn sponge." Both of these rarely reach 

 over an inch or two in height. The distribution of these sponges is world-wide. 



Fig. 25. Top. This colonial vase sponge, three inches high, has large holes called 

 excurrent openings through which water, taken in through many minute holes in the 

 sides, leaves the animal. Bottotn. The basket sponge, Hircina, anchored on a small 

 coral outcrop and almost large enough to sit in, is the largest species of sponge in 

 North American waters. 



