/The Best Livestock For Your Reef Aquarium:

Sponges, Phylum Porifera, Part 4

To: Sponges Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10,

By Bob Fenner

Genus Gelloides:

Gelloides fibulatus (Ridley 1884), the Thorny Horny Sponge (am not making this up). Indo-Pacific; Malaysia. Comes in two forms, encrusting and tubular. Up to fourteen inches in height. Off of Pulau Redang, Malaysia.

Genus Grayella:

Grayella cyathophora Red Sea pic.

Genus Haliclona:

Out of the Indo-Pacific several warm colored Sponge genera/species are collected for the trade; my choice picks are the beautiful blue, yellow or purple Halichondria and Haliclona (shown). These two genera comprise hardy (1's), hermatypic finger and encrusting species requiring intense light. Interzoo 08

Haliclona (Reniera) fascigera (Hentschel, 1912), Large tube-sponge. Red Sea 2019.

Haliclona vetulina De Laubenfels, Purple Star-Sponge. Red Sea, Indo-Pacific. Made of distinctive channels about its osculae. An aggressive space competitor, displacing almost all sessile invertebrates, including corals. N. Sulawesi and two at Gili Air, Indonesia showing a mollusk being covered and a coral being overgrown.

Genus Halisarca:

Halisarca sp. Thin, encrusting species with radiating canals that form star patterns with their collectivized excurrent siphons. Occur in several colors. St. Thomas 2014

Bigger PIX:
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Genus Holopsamma:

Holopsamma helwigi, Lumpy Overgrowing Sponge. Pink to Lavendar and lumpy to rope-like; often using Gorgonians as support. 4-16 inches. Curacao 2015.

Genus Hymedesmia:

Hymedesmia sp., Blue Sponge. Red Sea

Genus Ianthella:

Ianthella hasta. N. Sulawesi and Whitsundays, QLD, Australia close-ups.

Genus Iotrochota:

Iotrochota birotulata, the Green Finger Sponge. Made up of finger-like branches, often covered with Golden Zoanthids (as shown). Bahamas and St. Lucia pix.

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Genus Ircinia:

Ircinia felix, Class Demospongiae. Stinker Sponge. Light gray or brown encrusting globes, 6-12 inches in diameter. Osculae scattered on body. Conspicuous interconnected hexagonal markings on surface. Spread out excurrent siphons. Smells very bad on removal from water. Cozumel pix, close-up by DianaF

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Ircinia strobilina. Black Ball Sponge. Roundish, w/ clustered osculae in two or more places. Black to gray w/ white radiating lines. Cozumel 2012

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The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size.

Genus Leucetta:

Leucetta chagosensis Dendy 1913 the aptly name Lemon Sponge. Large mouths with raised margins... to about 4 inch colonies maximum. Fr. Polynesia 2018.

Genus Latruculia:

Latrunculia sp. Red Sponge. Red Sea. Reportedly very poisonous (Baensch Marine Atlas).

Leiodermatium sp. Wavy Cave Sponge. Hard to the touch and distinctive in shape. Found in caves, within crevices. May be endemic to Hawai'i. Kona pix.

Genus Leucetta:

Leucetta sp. Class Calcarea. Appear as opaque lemon-yellow masses with several osculae (excurrent openings). Tend to be compact, "potato-shaped". N. Sulawesi image.

Genus Leuconia:

Leuconia palaoensis (Tanita 1943). Shy exterior of pale pink to light blue tubules of soft, thin material. Austro-Malay. N. Sulawesi image.

To: Sponges Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10,

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