DNA barcodes are defined as signature sequences used to identify unknown specimens. They have been proposed as a means to quickly solve the taxonomical impediment, through an organised and highly structured effort, using the same part of the mitochondrial sub-unit I of the Cytochrome c oxidase gene to identify all species of the planet. There has been much debate about the uses and misuses of DNA for taxonomy, and the radical proposition of DNA barcodes has heated the debate. In this paper we present two contrasting views of how DNA barcodes may or may not help sponge taxonomy.