Until now, only 177 species of sponges (Porifera) have been reported for Chilean coastal
waters. Here we describe recent scuba diving surveys undertaken to improve our knowledge of the
diversity of the sponge fauna of the Seno Magdalena, Puyuhuapi Fjord and Jacaf Canal in Chilean
Patagonia. Despite these relatively harsh environments, our study yielded 23 species of Demospongiae,
nine of which are new to science and described here: Hymerabdia imperfecta Bertolino, Costa & Pansini
sp. nov., Axinella cylindrica Bertolino, Costa & Pansini sp. nov., Axinella coronata Bertolino, Costa &
Pansini sp. nov., Biemna aurantiaca Bertolino, Costa & Pansini sp. nov., Biemna erecta Bertolino,
Costa & Pansini sp. nov., Biemna typica Bertolino, Costa & Pansini sp. nov., Scopalina cribrosa
Bertolino, Costa & Pansini sp. nov., Rhizaxinella strongylata Bertolino, Costa & Pansini sp. nov. and
Darwinella pronzatoi Bertolino, Costa & Pansini sp. nov. One species, Hymedesmia (Stylopus) lissostyla
(Bergquist & Fromont, 1988), is reported for the first time for Chile.