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Related FAQs:
Sponges, Sponges 2, Sponges
3, Sponges 4, Sponge Identification, Sponge
ID 2, Sponge ID 3,
Sponge ID 4, Sponge ID 5,
Sponge ID 6, Sponge ID 7, &
Sponge
Selection, Sponge Compatibility, Sponge
Systems, Sponge Feeding, Sponge
Disease, Sponge Reproduction,
Related Articles: Invertebrates,
Live
Rock, Ascidians/Sea
Squirts, Review
of Tyree's "Cryptic Filtration" Bk
/The Best Livestock For Your Reef Aquarium:
Sponges, Phylum Porifera, Part 2
To: Sponges Part 1, Part 3,
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By Bob Fenner |
Principal marine organisms |
| 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. |
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| Grayella cyathophora Red Sea pic. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
| Hymedesmia sp., Blue Sponge. Red Sea |
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| Ianthella hasta. N. Sulawesi and Whitsundays, QLD,
Australia close-ups. |
 
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| Lotrochota 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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| Ircinia felix, Class Demospongiae. Stinker Sponge.
Light gray or brown encrusting globes, 6-12 inches in diameter.
Conspicuous hexagonal markings on surface. Smells very bad on removal from
water. Cozumel pix, close-up by Diana.F |
 
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| Latrunculia sp. Red Sponge. Red Sea. Reportedly very
poisonous (Baensch Marine Atlas). |
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| 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. |
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| Leucetta sp. Class Calcarea. Appear as opaque
lemon-yellow masses with several osculae (excurrent openings). Tend to be
compact, "potato-shaped". N. Sulawesi image. |
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| Leuconia palaoensis (Tanita 1943). Shy exterior of
pale pink to light blue tubules of soft, thin material. Austro-Malay. N.
Sulawesi image. |
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| Monanchora barbadensis, the Red Encrusting Sponge.
Bright red sheets, with radiating canals from excurrent siphons Bahamas
and Cozumel pix. |
 
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| Monanchora unguifera, the Fine Lumpy Sponge. 4-16
inch colonies (diameter). Bahamas pic. |
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| Mycale laevis, the Orange King Sponge. Bright orange
to yellow with white excurrent siphons. Grow under, about a few species of
stony corals, actually protecting them from bioerosion by other/boring
sponge species. Bahamas images. |
 
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| Mycale laxissima. Strawberry Vase Sponge. Bright reds
and oranges. Attached to solid substrates. Bahamas pic. |
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On to Sponges Part 3
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