NATIONAL FISHERY CONGRESS. 



227 



records of the sponge-buyers. The figures represent the actual purchases of the 

 local dealers, with the exception of the business of one buyer, the details of which 

 have been estimated. 



* Includes, besides velvet sponges, "wire" sponges, "hardhead" sponges, and other 

 miscellaneous grades having little value. 



THE SHEEPSWOOL SPONGE. 



The sheepswool is the best sponge found on the shores of the western Atlantic, 

 and for most purposes has no superior anywhere. While the texture is coarser than 

 that of the best Mediterranean sponges, this sponge is more durable a quality of 

 leading importance for most purposes. Belonging to the same species as the native 

 sheepswool are the well-known eastern horse sponge, Venetian bath sponge, and 

 Gherbis sponge. 



The sheepswool sponge is taken on all the important sponging-grounds on the 

 Florida coast. Its distribution may be said to be from Apalachicola on the west coast 

 to Cape Florida on the east coast, although between Charlotte Harbor and Key West 

 but few known grounds exist. The most productive are in the vicinity of Anclote Keys 

 and Rock Island, and from these regions the best quality of sheepswool sponges conies. 

 Between Key West and Cape Florida valuable grounds also exist, those in the vicinity 

 of Matecumbe Key, Knight Key, Bahia Honda, and Biscayne Bay being especially 

 important. This species usually grows on the bare coralline rock which underlies a 

 large part of Florida and is exposed over large areas of the contiguous bottom. On 

 sandy or muddy bottom it is rarely found. It is at present taken in water from 10 to 

 50 feet deep, but the largest quantities are obtained in depths of 20 to 35 feet. In the 

 early days of the fishery, before the depletion of the grounds had begun, the principal 

 part of the catch was from a depth of less than 12 feet. 



With the methods in use in Florida sponges can not be profitably gathered in 

 water more than 50 feet deep, and a question of considerable interest and importance 

 is whether sponges grow in noteworthy quantities at a greater depth. Most spongers 

 think that there are important grounds now beyond their reach, but others think that 

 50 or 60 feet is the maximum depth at which sponges grow. It is claimed by a few 

 persons that beyond this depth the bottom is not adapted to the growth of sponges, 

 the coralline rock being absent and sand predominating. Definite information on this 

 point is, however, lacking, and a careful survey would be required to settle the matter. 

 The probabilities are that in certain localities there are productive grounds beyond 

 the present limits of operation, as there is nothing in the nature of sponges to prevent 

 their inhabiting deeper water, and it seems improbable that the rocky bottoms should 

 cease to exist beyond 50 feet. 



Should future inquiry show the presence of sponge-grounds in water from 50 to 

 80 feet deep, the discovery of a method of utilizing them would be the first cousidera- 



