The collections were dredged off the coast (04º13'00" -02º34'02" N, 47º54'05" -50º50'07" W). They were collected between 56 to 95 depths, during an oceanographic expedition, Diretoria de Hidrografia e Navegação da Marinha do Brasil, by R/V " Almirante Saldanha" in 1968. Eight species are here registered, among which Niphates alba Van Soest, 1980, Placospongia melobesioides Gray, 1867 and Terpios belindae Rützler & Smith, 1993 represent new registers for Brazil. The other species: Aplysina fulva (Pallas, 1766), Ircinia strobilina (Lamarck, 1816), Niphates erecta Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864, Neopetrosia proxima (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) and Plakinastrella onkodes Uliczka, 1929 represent new records to the studied area. All registered species are also known from Caribbean. Specimens are deposited in the Porifera Collection of the Museu de Ciências Naturais, Fundação Zoobotânica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Continental shelf; north Brazilian coast; sponge distribution; taxonomy
