Abstract:
Species diversity of marine sponges was investigated in various habitats along the coast
and islands of Chanthaburi and Trat provinces during February to May 2006. Sample collection
was conducted from 18 sites, mostly carried out by wading and SCUBA diving during daytime and
the observations were randomly conducted in all collection sites. The results showed that 72
species from 11 orders, 37 families and 52 genera were identified. Out of these, three species were
the new records from Thai Waters, namely Placospongia melobesioides, Eurypon sp. “black” and
Rhabderemia sp. “brown”. Most species were previously found in the Gulf of Thailand and the
South China Sea. Species occurrence in various habitats was noted for some common sponges.