THE COMMERCIAL SPONGES AND THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 415 
in its brighter color and more cavernous structure, the oscula being more numerous 
and the blunt cones in which they are situated being separated in the skeleton 
by clefts entering rather deeply into the body of the sponge. 
A variety similar to the Key sponge is found on the north coast of Cuba. 
Honduras yellow.—This commercial variety, which comes from British 
Honduras, is the same zoologically as the Key yellow. It resembles the latter 
in surface appearance, but is harsher, less compressible, more open in texture, 
weaker, and less durable. In color it is bright yellow and it lacks the red root 
and interior of the Key sponge, from which it further differs in its habit of 
flatter growth. It is less harsh than either the Cuban or the Bahama yellow. 
Other localities.—Hippospongia equina elastica is also found in the Mediter- 
ranean, where it is known as the horse sponge and otherwise, from Haiti and other 
places in the Caribbean Sea, and from Australia and New Zealand. Euspongia 
wregularis pertusa is known zoologically from Ceylon, Australia, and the Ellice 
Islands in the Pacific Ocean. 
VELVET SPONGES. 
The velvet sponges found in the straits of Florida, the Caribbean Sea, and 
the Bahamas, with the possible exception of the Jamaica sort, appear to belong 
to Lendenfeld’s Hippospongia equina meandriformis. They are generally cake- 
shaped or spheroidal in form, somewhat broader than high and usually attached 
by a moderately broad base from which the sides swell out. The surface lacks 
the pointed or the edged tufts of the sheepswool sponge and the lamelle are 
thickened at their free edges to form rounded or flattened cushions lying in the 
same plane and imparting a smooth appearance to the sponge. These cushions 
form either meandering ridges or flat brush-shaped tufts, adjacent ridges being 
often united by a felting of fibers producing a flat surface. 
There are usually two, sometimes one, or three, large pectideccats or 
vents on the upper surface. These are subcircular ragged openings, unlike 
those of any other commercial sponge, divided internally into numerous cir- 
cular openings by irregular torn-looking septa. The color of the skeleton is 
light brown or dull yellow. 
The velvet sponges are very soft to the touch and well deserve their name, 
but they are rather less compressible than the sheepswool and absorb water 
less quickly. They are also less durable and on account of the large holes or 
vents in the upper surface tear more readily. They are next in value to the 
sheepswool, though not differing much from the yellow in price. Following 
are the commercial kinds or grades: 
Florida velvet (pl. xLv).—Found only on the reefs between Key West and 
Cape Florida, where comparatively few are taken. They are generally rather 
harsh and more or less torn and irregular. 
