All sponge samples were collected in two trips completed in August 2007 and August 2008. Sponges were collected by SCUBA using previously sterilized razor blades and zip lock bags. Sponge samples were briefly rinsed with sterile seawater to remove any loose bacteria on
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the pinacoderm of the sponge and transferred to 50 mL falcon tubes (Table 2). A 3-5 cm3 piece of the mesohyl layer from the massive growing sponges were collected. For the thinly encrusting individuals such as Scopalina ruetzleri a 4 x 3 cm sample was scraped from the coral bottom with a sterile razor blade and transferred with sterilized tweezers. Samples were frozen (-20 °C) until arrival at the Center of Marine Science at UNCW one week after each collection trip.