36 ANIMALS OF THE SEASHORE 



water about fifty feet deep some ten miles off the 

 New Jersey coast. It is buff or grayish when alive 

 but as it dries it turns a yellowish color. Dried speci- 

 mens are occasionally found washed up on the New 

 Jersey beaches particularly in the northern part of 

 the state (Sandy Hook to Barnegat). 



This sponge occurs in shallow water from Cape 

 Cod to Cape Hatteras. A closely related species, 

 Chalina oculata occurs off the coast of northern New 

 England. 



Microciona prolifera Verrill (Red Sponge) 



PLATE I. Fig. 3 



This is the most common of the New Jersey 

 sponges. When young, it forms thin bright red 

 incrustations on shells; when fully grown, it rises 

 in irregular slender branches as much as six inches 

 high. It is very abundant on the oyster shells in 

 Maurice River Cove in Delaware Bay, Ludlam's Bay, 

 Great Egg Harbor, Barnegat Bay and many other 

 parts of the Inland Coastal Waterways of New 

 Jersey. It is seldom found in the open ocean or 

 washed up on the ocean beaches. 



In the spring, after the breaking up of the ice, 

 many sponges are dislodged from their shell and 

 washed upon the beaches of Delaware Bay. The 

 beaches at Cape May Point in early April are fre- 

 quently covered with great masses of this red sponge 

 which turns brown as it dries. The same occurrence 

 is noted after severe storms, for instance after 

 the "Northeaster" of April 12, 1928. It fre- 

 quently grows on the back of spider crabs 



