bo 
~I 
SPONGES OR PORIFERA 
much decomposed, and then it is washed in the water to remove all 
of the fleshy parts, leaving only the tough, horny skeleton, which 
may be bleached in weak hydrochloric acid and hyposulphite of 
soda. 
Sponges grow best on hard bottoms where there is a consider- 
able current to bring food, and to pro- 
vide them with an abundance of aerated 
water. In Florida there are five varie- 
ties of sponges called ‘‘sheepswool,”’ 
“vellow,” “grass,” “velvet”? and “glove 
sponges.” 
The Sheepswool Sponges, (Spongia 
equina gossypina,), are most valuable, 
the fishery being worth about $250,000 
annually. The fibrous skeleton is very 
tough and fine meshed, and the inter- 

Fig. 3; RED SPONGE, Long 
ior of the sponge is cavernous while Teicea sea 
the outer surface is covered with woolly 
looking tufts of fibres. This is the common large bath sponge. 
The Yellow Sponge, ( Spongia agari- 
cina, ), lacks the woolly tufts characteris- 
tic of the sheepswool,and its surface is apt 
to be fairly even, with numerous pit-like 
pores. The fishery is worth about $15,- 
OOO annually. 
The Grass Sponge, (Spongia gramt- 
nea,), has the shape of a truncated cone 

the broad end being uppermost. The up- 
Fig. 4; RED SPONGE, Long 
eas siete per surface contains all of the large open- 
ings and is usually depressed, giving the 
sponge a cup-shape. The sides are furrowed with numerous small 
openings between the ridges. The fishery is worth about $20,000 
annually. 
In the Velvet Sponge, (Spongia equina meandriformis, ), the 
surface is apt to show winding channels bordered by flat ridges of 
fibre. The least valuable is the Glove Sponge (Spongia officinalis 
tubulifera, Figs. 1, 2), in which the surface is quite even with dense 
fibres which project outward in fine tufts. The sponge is usually 
