Sponges

Scope and Historical Definition

Sponges have long been known to Malayan fishermen, yet until the late 1930s the subject attracted little systematic attention. As Burkill summarised in his Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula, they were “plentiful about the coasts of Malaya but the quality is not what is wanted,” with the nearest established industries lying in the Philippine Islands and Australia [1, p. 121]. The only prior investigation of local sponges was that of Dr. R. Hanitsch, a former Curator of Raffles Museum, Singapore, who studied some 90 specimens of siliceous and other sponges collected between 1895 and 1905 by Fernandes de Fontaine, mostly from Blakang Mati, and made microscopic measurements of structures including oxea, spheraster, oxyaster, calthrops, styli, tylostyli, and strongyla. Hanitsch never published his work, though he prepared a descriptive catalogue of his collection [1, p. 121].

Interest revived in the mid-1930s with a small but definite demand from commercial houses in Singapore for sponges suitable for cleaning type-plates in printing works, paint on railway carriages and motor-cars, water filtration in cold storage plants, and domestic purposes [1, p. 121]. For such technical uses, sponges needed to be grit-free, of a size not much less than 7 × 8 inches, and of reasonably compact shape; bleaching was unnecessary and indeed weakened the tissue [1, pp. 121–122].

Economic Dynamics and Quality Assessment

No established sponge-fishing industry existed in Malaya in the sense understood in the Mediterranean or West Indies: there was no licensing of boats, no fishing permits, no seasonal restrictions, and no taxation of the crop [1, p. 122]. Local sponges were obtained from coral reefs and islands adjacent to Singapore—Sudong, Rhio, and Ubin—and from the more distant Dutch Islands, with scattered occurrences at Pulau Tioman and Pekan, though never in any great quantity [1, p. 122]. The winning and preliminary cleaning was almost entirely in the hands of Malays from the islands, while collection, sorting, trimming, and marketing in Singapore were exclusively Chinese [1, p. 123].

A trial shipment of 30 unbleached Malay sponges sent to a London firm in July 1935 was rejected: the texture was found coarse and weak with much sarcode present, and the lowest qualities of Bahamas and Cuban sponges were judged as good if not better, selling at no more than 6d. per pound [1, p. 122]. Retail prices in Singapore for cleaned, grit-free, unbleached sponges ranged from 10 cents for small specimens (4 × 6 inches) to 30 cents for large ones (10 × 12 inches) [1, p. 123]. Proximate analysis revealed that Malayan sponges contained 19.7 per cent ash (mineral matter) compared with only 4.2 to 7.2 per cent in Mediterranean Honeycomb and Turkey Cup sponges, and 61.0 per cent protein versus 71.3 to 77.1 per cent in the Mediterranean types, explaining their inferior texture [1, p. 127]. Over 1,000 specimens examined by Willimott showed persistent sarcode and siliceous matter even after local cleaning, and at least one-third exhibited red iron-staining at the point of reef attachment [1, p. 125].

Research and Documentation

Willimott’s 1939 survey, conducted in association with the Fisheries Department, Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States, represented the first comprehensive technical assessment of Malayan sponges. He tested two chemical cleaning methods—the standard hydrochloric acid and potassium permanganate sequence, and the Alexandria method involving sodium thiosulphate and sulphuric acid—and found the latter gave better results, though at greater cost [1, pp. 126–127]. He also conducted the first artificial culture experiments at Pulau Sudong in March 1935, placing 12 cuttings per wired cement triangle at approximately 1½ feet depth at low tide; after eight months the cuttings had grown half to one inch, and at fourteen months they had nearly closed the gaps between them [1, p. 128]. Willimott concluded that while Malayan sponges were admittedly of inferior quality to those of other origin, they could be greatly improved by modern methods of collection and cleaning, and that the industry might develop as a useful minor one should sufficient demand arise [1, pp. 127–130].

MBRAS Sources

• S.G. Willimott (1939). Malayan sponges. JMBRAS 17: 121–130

References

1. S.G. Willimott (1939). Malayan sponges JMBRAS 17(1): 121–130. Read on JSTOR