/ 
The Sponges of the Island of Hawaii^ 
M. W. DE Laubenfels^ 
The island of Hawaii lies farthest to the 
east and south of the chain of islands which 
comprise the Hawaiian archipelago. It has an 
area of more than 10,000 square kilometers. 
From it, capes project slightly north of 20° 
and south of 19° north latitude, also slightly 
west of 156° and east of 155° west longitude. 
Its two highest volcanic peaks, Mauna Kea 
and Mauna Loa, project respectively 4,201 
and 4,170 meters above sea level. The whole 
island consists of four amalgamated volcanic 
cones, rising from an ocean floor which is 
about 5 kilometers deep; thus the unit rises 
more than 9 kilometers above its substrate. 
Only comparatively narrow regions of shal- 
low water bound the island. In fact, along the 
steep north shore, there is practically no area 
which has a depth of less than 10 or 20 meters. 
The other shores, however, do have offshore 
regions less than 10 meters deep, and up to as 
much as 100 meters wide. The northeast side 
receives the trade winds, and therefore heavy 
rainfall; as a result a small river empties into 
the sea at Hilo. No other permanent streams 
occur on the island. 
In the summer of 1945, Professor R. W. 
Hiatt of the University of Hawaii made an 
intensive study of an extremely arid and 
inaccessible region on the south shore of 
Hawaii, known as Halape. His collection of 
sponges was turned over to me for study. 
In May, 1948, a grant from the University 
of Hawaii enabled me to make a rather 
^ Contribution No. 7, Hawaii Marine Laboratory. 
Manuscript received June 27, 1950. 
2 Formerly Professor of Zoology, University of 
Hawaii; now Professor of Zoology, Oregon State 
College, Corvallis, Oregon. 
thorough collection about the shores of the 
island. There I was given the utmost assist- 
ance by the officials of the Territorial Board 
of Agriculture and Forestry; on the east side 
by Mr. Ernest Yap; and on the west side by 
Mr. Homer Hayes. I am also grateful to the 
President of the Territorial Board of Agricul- 
ture and Forestry, Mr. Colin Lennox, and to 
the Director of the Division of Fish and 
Game, Mr. Vernon Brock, for their assistance 
in the project. 
Studies were made by using small boats, 
both row boats and motor-powered craft. The 
sea bottom was carefully observed by means 
of a glass-bottom ’Viewing box.” Assistance 
in collecting was rendered by "skin divers,” 
who swim down to a depth of a few meters. 
Fig. 1. The island of Hawaii, showing localities 
mentioned. 
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