An annotated and illustrated identification guide to common mesophotic reef sponges (Porifera, Demospongiae, Hexactinellida, and Homoscleromorpha) inhabiting Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and vicinities Author Diaz, Maria Cristina https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9485-0011 Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL, USA taxochica@gmail.com Author Nuttall, Marissa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1384-8978 Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Galveston, TX, USA & CPC Inc, Galveston, TX, USA Author Pomponi, Shirley A. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4982-1515 Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL, USA Author Ruetzler, Klaus National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D. C., USA Author Klontz, Sarah Genetic Disease Research Branch, NHGRI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA Author Adams, Christi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8411-4595 Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Galveston, TX, USA Author Hickerson, Emma L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2595-8878 Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Galveston, TX, USA Author Schmahl, G. P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5657-5204 Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Galveston, TX, USA text ZooKeys 2023 2023-05-11 1161 1 68 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1161.93754 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1161.93754 1313-2970-1161-1 4CE0D6C5C3044F748387FCC71F8F8AC0 97BBCF0865EA537F8147171EA5BBA1B5 Corallistes typus (Schmidt, 1870) Fig. 36 Diagnostic features. Small cups or plates, with undulating rims, walls 1-3 cm thick, usually with a thick peduncle. Brown with faintly pink tinges. The surface is smooth, with rims sometimes covered by sediment. Oscula not visible. Figure 36. In-situ photo of Corallistes typus , 60-108 m deep. Samples GFOE3-23G, DFH8-10B. Similar species. An integrative study of 247 "lithistid" samples from the tropical western Atlantic ( Schuster et al. 2021 ) encounters possibly six different undescribed species of Corallistes , similar to C. typus . Species of the genus Neophrissospongia have a similar appearance to this species. Distribution and abundance. Southern, eastern, and northern Caribbean, Florida, and Bahamas 61-914 m deep ( Pomponi et al. 2001 ). Abundances increase from 150 m to 900 m deep. At FGBNMS the species is widespread at 17 sites with low to medium abundance (2-100). Ecology. Coralline algae reefs, lower mesophotic reefs. Ideentification. KR, CA, SWK. References. van Soest and Stentoft 1988 ; Schuster et al. 2021 .