Eponges récoltées dans l'atlantique oriental par le Président-Théodore-Tissier (1955-1956)

Thanks to the wonderful work of Topsent, most of the eastern Atlantic sponge fauna, from the North of France to the Isles of the Cape Verde, is now known. Most of this knowledge is based on the determination of some important collections gathered during the cruises of the "Hirondelle" and the "Princesse Alice" as well as those of the "Porcupine", the "Caudan" and of some vessels belonging to the Irish fisheries services.If the sponges from the Azores Islands are well known, it does not go the same for those dwelling off the French and Spanish coasts, and more especially those living in the Bay of Biscay. The collection of the Fisheries institute is made up, for the most part, of specimens from the Azores Islands and the Spanish coasts. It was gathered by the "Président-Théodore-Tissier", either with trawls or with a Rallier drag, at depths ranging between 95 and 460 m. This sampling consists of a total of 32 species, of which 6 are new, and confirms the presence in the Atlantic Ocean of some largely spread species. But this inventory is not yet complete. Moreover, an old dredging, carried out off the Isle of Ouessant in 1948, brought back 13 other species, including one new species.