Littoral Demosponges from the Banks of the Strait of Sicily and the Alboran Sea

The material of this study has been collected from the South-Western Mediterranean in the course of two expeditions by the Italian Research Vessel “Bannock”. The primary collection method employed was SCUBA diving. The sampled area is affected by an important inflow of water from the Atlantic. Fifty-nine species have been studied. One of them, Stylostichon equiosculatus, is new to science. Some ecological considerations are also discussed.