Sponges Collected by the Swedish Deep Sea Expedition

The paper deals with sponges collected in the Atlantic by the Swedish Deep Sea Expedition. The collection contains six species of the genera Malaco-saccus, Chonelasma, heptonema, Asbestopluma, and Chondrocladia, which are well known from the deep-sea. Three new species are described, viz. Asbestopluma quadriserialis sp.n., Chondrocladia al-batrossi sp.n., and C. burtoni sp.n. A survey of the knowledge of the Atlantic deep-sea sponge fauna shows that 118 species are at present known from depths of more than 2 000 m. About 35% of the species were found four or more times, whereas about 47% are known only from the type locality. 63 species were taken more than once, and 50 species are known also from depths of less than 2 000 m.