Beautiful Marine Sponges - Caribbean Underwater Gallery II Last Image

A pair of massive, Deep-Water Verongias, with Red Rope Sponge (Haliclona rubens), and Deep-water Gorgonians (Icilogorgia schrammi).

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Marine Sponges II

Caribbean Underwater Gallery VI

 
*  Attached beneath a rocky outcrop we found a pair of massive, deep-water Sponges (Verongia sp.)  In the right foreground is the Red Rope Sponge (Haliclona rubens), and in the background is the Deep-water Gorgonian (Icilogorgia schrammi).  The  waters around the Grand Cayman Island are especially rich in sponges of the species Verongia  (1), (2), (3).  The sponges such as the above seem peculiar to the Great North Wall and West Bay of Grand Cayman Island. On the walls of Little Cayman Island, we have found no Verongias such as the above. 

North Wall, Grand Cayman Island  -  Depth 130 feet or 40 meters

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