Sponges from the Caribbean coast of Colombia were classified and described, an inventory which is the first of this geographic area. From collections made in 1977 the “Keratosa” are presented, which contain 17 species of Dictyoceratida and Verongida. The sponge faunas of the West-Indies have been investigated relatively well which is documented by the inventories of Wiedenmayer (1977) and of Van Soest (1978, 1980). Besides the reef-building corals the poriferes of the Caribic dominate in the benthic biomass and the variety of species. The coast region of Colombia has, however, yet not been studied. The authors of this article had the opportunity to collect sponges of the Columbian coast between Cienaga Grande and Bahia Nenguange (Fig. 1) in January and February 1977. The investigation was facilitated by a partnership agreement between the Justus-Liebig University Giessen and Colciencias Columbia. It is the first attempt of an inventory with special reference to the zonal distribution of species in the bay of Santa Marta. The instituto Invemar de Punta de Betin has provided us with working facilities and with groups of divers. We gratefully acknowledge the assistence of Dr. B. Werding, Dr. F. Köster, Dipl. Biol. H. Sanchez and of a group of Colombian students. Dr. Rob van Soest from the Institute of Taxonomic Zoology of the University of Amsterdam helpfully advised us in the taxonomic classification of the collected specimens. The systematic classification of the orders Dictyoceratida and Verongida, described by Berquist 1980 was accepted as semi-definitive for our representation.
