740 



MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



Federal specifications for natural sponges recognize 11 various types which are 

 designated by different names as, for instance, "Rock Island Sheepswool Middle 

 Range Forms No. 1," "Florida Key Sheepswool No. 2," etc., and two classes- 

 unbleached and bleached. There are from 1 to 6 sizes in various types, defined 

 by average minimum and maximum perimeter measurements and by the number 

 of sponges per pound. Details of these complex specifications are given in the 

 Federal Standard Stock Catalog Section IV, Part 5 (1941). 



Table 162. Commercial Sponges. 



Sheepswool or Wool Sponges. These are the best of the sponges of the western 

 Atlantic, and in some of their qualities and for some purposes are not equaled by 

 any other kind. They are massive in form, usually cake-shaped or like inverted 

 pineapples, and regular in contour, with the exception of certain specimens from 

 Cuba which have a flat incrusting base from which rise long teatlike tubes often 

 reaching a length of 6 to 8 inches. 



Sheepswool sponges are particularly responsive to environment, exhibiting wide 

 local variation both in appearance and quality and undergoing marked change 

 in character when transplanted to a new locality. The oscula are large, few in 

 number, confined to the upper surface, and surrounded by a rampart of flat 

 tufts usually slightly elevated above the surrounding tissue. The whole surface 

 of the skeleton is tufted with fascicles of fibers, which are usually more slender 

 and pointed in sponges from shallow water. Sheepswool sponges grow to a large 

 size, 18 inches or more in diameter, and are soft and absorbent; the better grades 

 are unequaled in wearing qualities. The smaller and medium sizes are marketed 

 as "forms," while many of the larger ones and the irregular or torn ones are 

 divided and sold as "cuts." 



