THE SPONGES OF THE WEST-CENTRAL PACIFIC 



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At Guam, much of the very shallow lagoon was entirely devoid of sponge 

 life. On the central portion of the northwest coast, there is an indentation 

 called Agana Bay. In it, between 2 and 3 kilometers northeast of Agana, is a 

 region sometimes called Dungas Beach. There is a lagoon which is in places 

 more than 2 meters deep and is sheltered not only by the hilly land on three 

 sides and by the offshore reef but also by a small islet. Inshore from this 

 islet there were abundant sponges of the species identified as Haliclona ligulata 

 and Callyspongia diffusa. There were less common but fairly numerous 

 specimens of Adocia viola and Kieplitela antrodes. We also found one 

 specimen each of Pellina pidvilla, Thalysias frondifera, and Terpios aploos. 



At the extreme south end of Guam, there is a triangular lagoon called 

 Merizo Bay. Each side of the triangle is a little over 2 kilometers. The shore 

 of the main island forms one side. A smaller island, called Cocos Island, is at 

 the opposite apex. Much of this lagoon is less than a meter deep at low tide, 

 but some of it is more than 2 meters deep. Especially in these deeper pools we 

 found moderately common individuals of Adocia viola, Kieplitela antrodes, 

 Stylotella agminata; and by breaking up dead coral we found Aka trachys. 



Table 1. Analysis of Guam Sponges 



(Key: +, abundant; — , rare) 



The Palau Archipelago proved to be very rich in sponge life. I found 51 

 species there, which is almost the same number as at Ponape. The Palau 

 area being larger than that at Ponape, the comparative abundance would seem 

 to be somewhat less. On the other hand, Tanita in 1943 found three species 

 of sponge in the Palaus, none of which I could find. Thus, their recorded 

 sponge fauna becomes 54 species. 



Iwayama Bay, so nearly perfectly landlocked, yet with constant gentle 

 currents, proved to have abundant sponges. Prior to 1941, Japanese authorities 

 maintained a biological research station on this bay. They wisely selected it as 

 superlative in the Western Pacific region. I would say, as my opinion, that 

 Lemotol Bay in the Truk region was perhaps a trifle richer in marine life, 

 but the two bays are outstandingly interesting. 



