THE COMMERCIAL SPONGES AND THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 475 
Nicaragua.—A very few sponges are produced on the coast of Nicaragua 
and other Central American countries. In 1905, the exports to the United 
States were valued at $50. 
Mexico.—The sponge beds of Mexico lie on the north and east coast of 
Yucatan, on Campeche Banks and about Cozumel Island. ‘The beds which have 
been exploited lie in very shallow water and the sponges are very inferior, but 
it is said that there are better grades in the deeper water toward the southern 
end of the east coast. The exportation from Mexico is very small, in 1906 
amounting to but $218 on shipments to the United States and $250 on ship- 
ments to France. During the five years from 1903 to 1907, inclusive, the total 
exports to the United States were valued at but $1,214. A very few American 
vessels have sponged off the Mexican coast in recent years, but the value of 
their catch is not definitely known. Several years ago a vessel with two diving 
boats operated for three seasons off Cozumel. Large yellow sponges were found 
in abundance, but the few sheepswool sponges taken were so much inferior to 
those of Florida that the venture never paid. 
Colombia.—The United States consul at Cartagena says, in 1907: 
The bay of Cartagena is rich in sponge beds, and the local fishers for sponges find 
some fine in quality and large in size. These are handled in a crude way by the ‘‘bum- 
boat’’ men only, and sold alongside vessels in the harbor, no effort being made to export 
them in a business-like manner. 
The Consular Reports for 1903 noted the granting of concessions on both 
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts which included the sponge fisheries, but nothing 
is known of the value of the beds. The only Colombian sponge of which the 
author has definite knowledge is a hardhead closely resembling that from 
Honduras. This is said to be very abundant. The writer ventures to predict 
that the sponge fauna will be eventually found to embrace all of the principal 
kinds of American commercial sponges, though it is doubtful whether they will 
prove of very high quality. 
Venezuela.—Weil states that there are sponges on the coast of Venezuela, 
but that they are hard, incompressible, not very porous, and practically worthless. 
Jamaica.—A few velvet sponges, elsewhere described in this paper, are 
taken from the waters of Jamaica, but the fishery is of comparatively little 
importance. 
Santo Domingo.—The principal sponge beds are about the Island of Gonaves, 
in the Republic of Haiti. They produce velvet and reef sponges which are both 
inferior in quality and generally poorly prepared for the market. The spongers 
are Greeks, 5 or 6 in number, and fishing but occasionally produce sponges with a 
value of but $600 or $800 per year. 
-Commercial sponges similar in general to those of other parts of the Carib- 
bean are known zoologically from Porto Rico, the Danish West Indies, and other 
of the Lesser Antilles. 
