Deep-sea sponge-dominated communities (grounds, aggregations and gardens) form a variety of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) widespread throughout the North Atlantic in areas such as shelves, slopes, seamounts, mid- ocean ridges, canyons and fjords. To address SponGES objectives a number of case studies, covering the main types of sponge grounds ecosystems known to occur in the North Atlantic, have been selected. These extend all the way from the Arctic Mid Ocean Ridge southwards to the Azores archipelago and include sites from both the western and eastern Atlantic. Some examples are the boreo-Arctic Tetractinellid grounds known as Ostur or cheese-bottoms or the monospecific aggregations of the hexactinellid sponge Vazella pourtalesi known as Russian hat, on the Scotian shelf.