North Jamaican Deep Fore-Reef Sponges

An unexpectedly high amount of new species, revealed within only one hour of summarized bottom time, leads to the conclusion that the sponge fauna of the steep slopes of the deep fore-reef is still largely unknown. Four mixed gas dives at depths between 70 and 90 m, performed in May and June, 1993, at the deep fore-reef off the north Jamaican coast in front of the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory, revealed a total of 27 demosponge species, ten of which are new to science.