| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Calcifibrospongiidae |
Calcifibrospongia actinostromarioides |
3 |
Orange, hard, encrusting plate, with regularly scattered oscules. It is a sclerosponge, which means it has a basal skeleton of calcium carbonate (still to be confirmed) in which the sponge tissue is embedded. Spicules are strongyles to strongyloxeas in a loose reticulation. Ground and polished hystological sections of tissue with skeleton are needed for further confirmation. |
Hartman, 1979 |
orange,encrusting,hard |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Callyspongiidae |
Callyspongia ?eschrichti |
10 |
Lobate with scattered oscules, conules and contorted skin fibers. Light gray. It remains to be determined if this is C. eschriti or one of the Callyspongia o Tuba species described originally by Duchassaing and Michellotti and now synonymized under C. vaginalis (Lamarck, 1814). It is certainly different to C. vaginalis, with which it coexists; but it does not exactly match the thorny appearance of C. eschriti depicted in the literature. Pedro Alcolado (Cuba) names this sponge Callyspongia vaginalis forma solida. |
Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 |
blue,gray,pink-lilac,tube,massive,bushy,lobate,branching,tough,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Callyspongiidae |
Callyspongia armigera |
8 |
Gray, erect to repent branches, conulose, oscules aligned. |
(Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) |
gray,branching,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Callyspongiidae |
Callyspongia fallax |
10 |
Bluish or pinkish tubes, usually low, in groups; may be massive or thickly encrusting with oscular mounds; stiffly spongy; tissue clears away easily, leaving the clean skeleton. |
Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 |
blue,pink-lilac,gray,cream,branching,tube,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Callyspongiidae |
Callyspongia longissima |
2 |
Long, single vases-tubes, gray. Considered as a valid, separate species from C. vaginalis (Lamarck, 1814), but further analyses may be needed to confirm it. |
(Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) |
gray,orange,tube,vase,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Callyspongiidae |
Callyspongia pallida |
2 |
In The Bahamas it grows as light purple or greenish-grayish thin branches or aligned tubes; easily compressible. Lagoonal specimens may be similar to C. fallax Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864, but C. pallida is much softer and its fiber networks of much smaller size. In other areas C. pallida is more massive with oscular or tubular mounds, and tends to be whitish. Pedro Alcolado (Cuba) call this form Callyspongia arcesiosa de Laubenfels, 1936, as a distinct species from C. pallida. We haave so far found only one form of soft Callyspongia and used C. pallida following van Soest (1980). |
Hechtel, 1965 |
blue,pink-lilac,branching,tube,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Callyspongiidae |
Callyspongia plicifera |
14 |
Iridiscent blue vases; when not iridiscent, creamy orange. Surface characteristically convoluted. |
(Lamarck, 1814) |
blue,pink-lilac,cream,gray,vase,tube,fan,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Callyspongiidae |
Callyspongia strongylophora |
1 |
A tangled mass of thin, brown, elastic branches. Not to be confused with Haliclona ?ruetzleri de Weerdt, 2002, which has thinner branches, is softer, and has an unispicular reticulation of oxea spicules (compared to a reticulation of spongin fibers with cored spicules typical of Callyspongia in C. strongylophora. |
Hartman, 1955 |
brown,branching,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Callyspongiidae |
Callyspongia tenerrima |
13 |
Erect, gray branches. Oscula spread throughout the branches, flush with the surface. Surface generally even; a network of fibers is visible. |
Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 |
gray,pink-lilac,blue,branching,tough,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Callyspongiidae |
Callyspongia vaginalis |
21 |
Groups of cylindrical tubes, sometimes wider at the top, forming vases, grayish, pinkish, yellowish, with smooth conules. In the Florida Keys there are three co-existing morphotypes, gray, red, and yellow, which are not genetically distinct and appear to be the result of ecophenotypic plasticity due to some degree of ecological differentiation (see López-Legentil et al., 2010). |
(Lamarck, 1814) |
gray,yellow,green,pink-lilac,orange,cream,cinnamon-tan,tube,vase,spherical,fan,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Chalinidae |
Chalinula molitba |
7 |
Light purple to pink to bluish branches or tangled tubes. De Weerdt (2000) included within this species a spongin-dominated morphotype and a spicule-dominating one. Here we include only specimens with spongin-dominated skeletons and use Chalinula pseudomolitba (de Weerdt, Rützler & Smith, 1991) for the spicule-dominated ones. It differs from Ch. pseudomolitba in having a loose network of spongin fibers (ascending and interconnecting) with a few embedded thin spicules. |
(de Laubenfels, 1949) |
blue,pink-lilac,purple-violet,branching,tube,massive,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Chalinidae |
Chalinula pseudomolitba |
6 |
Light purple or pinkish cushions, even or with oscular mounds or fistules. We use this name for what de Weerdt (2000) refers to the spicule-dominated morph of Ch. molitba (de Laubenfels, 1949). This species is distinguished from the Ch. molitba in having a reticulation of single spicules, or tracts of few spicules, cemented by spongin. This form seems to be restricted to mangrove stilt roots in The Bahamas. The presence of tubes and fistules may one think that it is Haliclona (Reniera) tubifera (George & Wilson). |
(de Weerdt, Rützler & Smith, 1991) |
pink-lilac,purple-violet,massive,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Chalinidae |
Chalinula zeae |
4 |
Orange encrustation with a whitish, transparent skin; oscules and exhalant canals conform a star pattern in the surface. Could be easily confused with Clathria species (order Poecilosclerida, family Microcionidae) except that it has oxeas as main spicules instead of styles or subtylostyles. |
de Weerdt, 2000 |
orange,cream,encrusting,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Chalinidae |
Haliclona (Halichoclona) magnifica |
3 |
White crispy and crumbly masses with elevated fistules-oscular tubes. Available photos are from Belize and The Florida Cays (material from the Bahamas was examined but no photo was obtained). |
de Weerdt, Rützler & Smith, 1991 |
white,tube,massive,papillated,soft,crumbly |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Chalinidae |
Haliclona (Reniera) ?ruetzleri |
1 |
Thin, sprawling, brown, soft branches. The ectosome has an unispicular tangential reticulation with additional erect spicules at the nodes. Choanosomal reticulation a bit more paucispicular. Spicules oxea 90-100 by 7.5-10 µm. Bahamas material lacks microscleres (two categories of sigma, toxa), hence the tentative identification pending further comparisons. |
de Weerdt, 2000 |
brown,branching,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Chalinidae |
Haliclona (Reniera) tubifera |
1 |
Soft, limp tubes arising from a base, often with sprawling branchelets. Can be confused with Chalinula molitba forma pseudomolitba (de Weerdt, Rützler & Smith, 1991). |
(George & Wilson, 1919) |
purple-violet,tube,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Chalinidae |
Haliclona (Soestella) ?melana |
3 |
The only individuals seen were black tangled thin branches partly buried in sand. Only black oscular fistules were visible in the sandy bottom of tidal lagoonal channels. Species originally described from Brazil. Spicules are oxea 150-210 µm. The ectosome is an unispicular tangential reticulation. The present material conforms to some of the variation described. Confirmation of species identity needs further material and comparisons. |
Muricy & Ribeiro, 1999 |
black,encrusting,papillated,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Chalinidae |
Haliclona (Soestella) ?twincayensis |
1 |
Whitish-creamy branches, rather soft and limp. Identification remains tentative until further material can be analyzed and comparisons can be made. It has slightly shorter spicules and it is softer than H. magnifica de Weerdt, Rützler & Smith, 1991 collected in the same area. |
De Weerdt et al., 1991 |
cream,branching,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Amphimedon complanata |
3 |
Black, thickly encrusting; skeleton as a reticulation of spongin fibers with a few spicules embedded in the ascending fibers. It can be confused with dark brown encrusting Amphimedon compressa. It has a reticulation of clear spongin fibers with a few spicules included. When touched, a subsuperficial pattern of vertical canals, wider than in A. compressa, is visible below the ectosome. |
(Duchassaing, 1850) |
black,encrusting,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Amphimedon compressa |
17 |
Thickly encrusting, massive, flabellated or branching, from dark brown to purple to bright red, sometimes dark orange; all apparently seem the same species, with a reticulation of spongin fibers filled with oxea spicules. Dark specimens may be confused with black Amphimedon complanata. |
Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 |
red,black,brown,cinnamon-tan,purple-violet,orange,branching,encrusting,fan,massive,tough,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Amphimedon sp. gray-green branch-ridge |
3 |
Gray-green erect branches, single or in groups, sometimes flattened, looking like and irregular ridge; oscules usually aligned; surface conulose, especilly towards the tips. Consistency softly spongy, difficult to tear. Spicules oxea with rather blunt ends. It is probably an undescribed species, although being from South Florida, there may be old names available for it. |
|
gray,green,branching,fan,lobate,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Amphimedon viridis |
4 |
Emerald or bluish green, crumbly masses with oscular mounds. Some specimens appear brownish. We consider A. erina (de Laubenfels, 1936) a junior synonym. |
Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 |
green,massive,encrusting,tube,crumbly |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Cribrochalina dura |
3 |
Tan to brown with vinaceous tinges, tangled, repent, crooked and anastomosed, or straight erect branches, with blunt ends, often flattened; branches are somewhat elastic and their consistency is slightly compressible, not stiff or crumbly. Here we are following the description of Cribrochalina dura by Wiedenmayer (1977). What Wilson (1902) originally described has also been placed under genus Petrosia [but different from P. dura (Nardo, 1883) from The Mediterranean]. However, our material and Wilson (1902) and Wiedenmayer (1977) descriptions clearly show the skeletal architecture of Cribrochalina, made of a reticulation of ascending and interconnecting thick multispicular tracts cemented by spongin. Petrosia, in contrast, has a more isotropic and paucispicular reticulation. Hence the different consistencies, tough in Cribrochalina and brittle in Petrosia. Pharetronema zingiberis Sollas 1879 from Jamaica may be conspecific with this species, in which case its name should take priority. At Santa Marta, Colombia, there are branching individuals with rather flat and wide branches intermediate between C. dura and C. vasculum. As regular vase and fan-shaped individuals are absent there, Zea (1987) assigned them to C. vasculum. Whether they are C. vasculum or C. dura remains to be determined. |
(Wilson, 1902) |
cinnamon-tan,brown,purple-violet,branching,fan,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Cribrochalina vasculum |
9 |
Also called Cribrochalina infundibulum Schmidt, 1870. Smooth inverted cones, to ear-shaped or fan-shaped, sometimes torn or crooked by waves or predators; color tan to vinaceous. May be confused with Petrosia pellasarca (de Laubenfels, 1934), which is crumbly. Both have a small category of oxeas spicules concentrated at the surface reticulations. But the skeleton of Cribrochalina is made of thick multispicular tracts cemented by spongin, while the one of Petrosia is more paucispicular and loose, hence the different consistencies. Specimens from Santa Marta, Colombia, made of flattened wide branches were asigned to this species by Zea (1987), but their belonging to C. dura remains to be determined. |
(Lamarck, 1814) |
brown,cinnamon-tan,purple-violet,vase,branching,fan,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Niphates alba |
5 |
Erect cylinders, light purple or bluish. Surface smooth, slighlty shiny, sometimes with spinous conules on top of branches, with level or slightly elevated oscules often with a transparent iris (sometimes completely closed); interior rather cavernous. Its megasclere spicules (strongyles to strongyloxeas) have been compared with sympatric Bahamian Niphates erecta (mammiform oxea) and Niphates digitalis (hastate oxea). Repent specimens of N. ?caycedoi from Stirrups Cay, N Berry Island, Bahamas have the same spicule complement of co-existing erect N. alba, but they are slightly thinner. Also, the surface has a slightly different aspect (more hispid surface, less oscules). |
van Soest, 1980 |
blue,gray,pink-lilac,purple-violet,branching,encrusting,massive,bushy,lobate,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Niphates amorpha |
10 |
Originally called Niphates digitalis fo. amorpha. Zea (1987) and other authors synonymized it to Niphates erecta, on the grounds of several individuals having both broad encrusting and erect parts, and in not finding skeletal differences between fully encrusting and branching individuals from the same locality. However, in the Bahamas N. amorpha individuals always have pointed oxea spicules, while N. erecta (repent and erect branches) have their oxeas rather blunt, with mammiform tips, almost like strongyles. Thus, it appears that at least for the Bahamas, N. amorpha is a good species. It remains to be determined if it exists elsewhere and if it maintains skeletal differences with N. erecta. In the World Porifera Database it has been synonymized to Gelliodes sosuae Pulitzer-Finally, 1986, but this remains to be confirmed, as the latter has similar spiculation to Niphates recondita (Wiedenmayer, 1977). |
Wiedenmayer, 1977 |
gray,blue,pink-lilac,encrusting,branching,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Niphates caribica |
8 |
Originally placed under genus Cribrochalina, and later under Amphimedon (see Lehnert & van Soest, 1996). Also named Cribrochalina spiculosa (Dendy, 1890) (see van Soest, 1980). Gray to purplish, irregular fans, firmy compresible but difficult to cut. Skeleton of a reticulation of spicule tracts embedded in spongin, ending at the surface in a paratangential reticulation with spicule brushes. Spicules hastate oxea with slightly telescopic ends, 125-240 x 3.7-6.3 µm. It has the same spicules and similar skeletal arrangement of Niphates digitalis (Lamarck, 1815) and Niphates amorpha Wiedenmayer, 1977. In fact, on can envision a gradation from encrusting forms (N. amorpha) to irregular fans (N. caribica). Also, there are thin, partly closed inverted-cone specimens of N. digitalis which may be easily confused with N. caribica open fans. Perhaps the characteristically spined rim of N. digitalis, vs. a smoother one of N. caribica help telling them apart. The most recently published report (Lehnert & van Soest, 1996) and the World Porifera Database place this species under Amphimedon, but our observations of freshly collected specimens cleary show them as Niphates. |
(Pulitzer-Finali, 1986) |
gray,pink-lilac,vase,fan,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Niphates digitalis |
13 |
Thick vases to thin inverted cones, sometimes becoming fans. Light gray with pinkish or bluish hues; surface spiny, especially on the rim of the atrium. Spicules are pointed oxea. |
(Lamarck, 1814) |
blue,gray,pink-lilac,tube,vase,fan,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Niphates erecta |
7 |
Repent and erect branches, grayish, with pinkish or bluish tones, with scattered oscules; often riddled with zoanthids. Spicules in the Bahamas are blunt to mammiform oxea, sometimes almost strongyles. Thickly encrusting specimens photographed in the Bahamas correspond to what Wiedenmayer (1977) described as Niphates digitalis forma amorpha (synonym Gelliodes sosuae Pulitzer-Finali, 1986), considered as a valid species by van Soest (1980), vis. N. amorpha. In the Bahamas, coexisting specimens of these two forms are readily distinguished by N. amorpha having acute, pointed oxea. In other Caribbean areas, erect specimens have encrusting areas and there are wholly encrusting individuals in wave-swept shores, but spiculation (pointed oxea), color and general aspect coincide. This led to Zea (1987) to consider N. amorpha a junior synonym of N. erecta. The Bahamian encrusting forms are thus a separate valid species. It remains to be determined if it lives elsewhere in the Caribbean. It is distinguished from co-existing Niphates alba because the latter has a more smooth surface (patches of smooth skin over subdermal spaces), a more lavender color, and true strongyles as spicules. |
Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 |
blue,gray,pink-lilac,purple-violet,branching,encrusting,massive,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Niphates recondita |
3 |
Erect, single stem-branch, crown by smaller branchelets. Color gray. Consistency soft, not easily torn. Oscules scattered or aligned on the mayor branch. Spicules are rather blunt oxeas, and sigmas. A possible junior synonim for this species is Gelliodes sosuae Pulitzer-Finali (1986). |
(Wiledenmayer, 1977) |
gray,branching,soft |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Niphatidae |
Niphates sp.-orange thick encrustation |
1 |
Pale orange thick encrustation with oscules on lobes. Consistency firmly compressible, elastic. Spicules are strongyles in a wide size range, embedded in a reticulation of spongin fibers. Assignation to Niphates is tentative. Another Haplosclerid with yellowish-orangish color and strongyle spicules, with which detailed comparisons are pending, is Niphates lutea Lehnert & van Soest, 1999. |
|
orange,encrusting,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Neopetrosia proxima |
4 |
Previously placed under genus Xestospongia. Also known as Densa araminta de Laubenfels, 1934. Dark brown to tan (sometimes with greenish, purplish or pinkish tinges), thick, hard mats incrusted in the substratum, with scattered oscules. When cut and handled, it has a sticky texture. |
(Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) |
green,brown,encrusting,hard |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Neopetrosia rosariensis |
7 |
Previously placed under genus Xestospongia. In The western and northern Caribbean and the Bahamas, this species occurs as low, dark brown to black tubes, orten partly buried or with a basal mass widely filling crevices from which low tubes protrude. The surface may be riddled with holes. In the southern Caribbean it occurs as long, dark brown, smooth tubes, single or in groups. Spicules are oxea with ends a little rounded, 140-175 x 3.1-5 µm in the Bahamas. Crevice-filling specimens may be confused with Calyx podatypa (de Laubenfels, 1934) (pictured herein), which are brown, more crumbly, and have smaller and thinner spicules (92-122 x up to 2 µm. |
(Zea & Rützler, 1981) |
brown,black,tube,encrusting,massive,lobate,hard |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Neopetrosia subtriangularis |
11 |
Previously placed in genus in Xestospongia. Hard, repent to erect tan branches with oscules aligned on top. In the Bahamas the branches are thicker (3-5 cm) than in other Caribbean areas (1-2 cm). |
(Duchassaing, 1850) |
cinnamon-tan,branching,hard |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Petrosia (Petrosia) pellasarca |
4 |
Ear to fan-shaped, uniformly thick (ca. 1 cm), smooth, crumbly, reddish brown (pale in shaded parts). Can be confused with Cribrochalina vasculum (Lamarck, 1814), which is tougher and rather more elastic. Also, with Petrosia weinbergi, with which it shares a wide range size of oxea spicules, but lack the small toxa, is more crispy in consistency, and is greenish. |
(de Laubenfels, 1934) |
red,brown,cinnamon-tan,white,cream,fan,vase,crumbly |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Petrosia (Petrosia) weinbergi |
12 |
Dark green ears partly or totally encrusted onto the substratum; hard and brittle, with a smooth but crusty surface; no oscules usually apparent. Can be confused with Petrosia pellasarca, which is brown, grows more off the substratum and is crumbly and has small toxa spicules in addition to the oxea in a wide size range that both share. There are deep reef cave-wall fully encrusting specimens with scattered, slightly elevated oscules, usually creamy but sometimes green, a bit more crumbly, with the same spicule complement and skeletal architecture. We are placing these tentatively within this species. |
van Soest, 1980 |
green,brown,cream,gray,encrusting,fan,massive,lobate,hard,crumbly |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Petrosia (Strongylophora) davilai |
1 |
Dark brown, hard and thick encrustation with sprawling branching extensions. Originally described under genus Strongylophora, which now is considered a subgenus of Petrosia. Hence, the full name is Petrosia (Strongylophora) davilai. The megasclere spicules are small to large strongyles, and microscleres are microxea. There are also thin raphide like spicules which may be developmental stages of strongyles. It can be confused in the field with Petrosia weinbergi van Soest, 1980, which forms green to cream hard encrustations. |
(Alcolado, 1979) |
brown,branching,encrusting,hard |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Petrosia (Strongylophora) sp.-crumbly round volcano |
1 |
A dark green-brown, crumbly, rounded volcano. Identification is tentative. It has strongyle spicules in variuos sizes, about 120 to 200 micrometers, which places it into Petrosia (Strongylophora). Ectosomal skeleton is a tangential irregular reticulation of single spicules. Internal skeleton as a ladder-like irregular unispicular reticulation. Spicules appear to be joined by spongin at the nodes; meshes are irregular because they are made up of spicules of different sizes. Spicules appear similar to Neopetrosia dominicana (Pulitzer-Finali, 1986) (originally placed under Xestospongia; not represented in this work; it has not been re-described after the original) but the external shape, the consistency and the skeleton seem to be different. We compared it to Petrosia (Strongylophora) davilai (Alcolado & Gotera, 1986), but the structure of the skeleton is different (reticulation of ascending and interconnecting multispicular tracts). |
|
green,brown,vase,crumbly |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Xestospongia deweerdtae |
1 |
Pinkish to orange thick encrustations with volcano-shaped oscules. Consistency firmy compressible, crumbly. Spicules are perfect strongyles 325-400 x 10-20 µm arranged in the ectosome as a tangential unispicular reticulation, and in the choanosome as multispicular reticulation. |
Lehnert & van Soest, 1999 |
pink-lilac,orange,tube,massive,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Xestospongia muta |
16 |
Large barrels, golden to reddish brown. Surface rather smooth or with numerous irregular, finger-shaped, pyramidal or lamellated projections. Top usually thin-walled, usually with projections. Interior of atria rough, as a bubble-like pattern. Also knows as X. rampa (de Laubenfels, 1934). |
(Schmidt, 1870) |
yellow,brown,pink-lilac,cream,cinnamon-tan,tube,vase,crumbly,hard |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Xestospongia sp.-thin pink sheet over Plakortis |
5 |
Thin lavender-pink, soft crust, found living over the sponge Plakortis halichondroides (Wilson, 1902). Oscules of P. halichondroides are free of Xestospongia sp. tissue; there are also numerous holes on the surface that may serve as inhalant areas for the lower sponge. Spicules are strongyles 170-260 x 2.5-6.3 µm, arranged in an unispicular isotropic reticulation. We initially thought it was X. deweerdtae Lehnert & van Soest, 1999 (also pictured here), but when we found the free living sponge it turned out to be different, with larger spicules. It should be compared to Haliclona strongylophora Lehnert & van Soest, 1996 (not included herein). |
|
pink-lilac,encrusting,soft,crumbly |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Petrosiidae |
Xestospongia sp.-whitish thick encrustation |
1 |
White to greenish, tough but crumbly encrustations with large oscula with transparent collars. Megasclere spicules are hastate oxea 350-450 x 7-10 µm arranged in an isotropic unispicular reticulation (both ectosomal and choanosomal, although the latter can be paucispicular). Owing to its large spicule size, it may fit into genus Xestospongia. However, it needs to be compared to Haliclona megasclera Lehnert & vanb Soest, 1996, which also has large oxea spicules. Also needs to be compared to Xestospongia arenosa van Soest & de Weerdt, 2001, which is also withish but usually lives buried in sediments. |
|
white,encrusting,crumbly |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Phloeodictyidae |
Aka brevitubulata |
4 |
Originally described under genus Siphonodictyon. Excavating sponge; tiny yellow papillae. Mucus is exudated when handled. |
(Pang, 1973) |
yellow,papillated,soft,crumbly |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Phloeodictyidae |
Aka coralliphaga |
16 |
Originally described under genus Siphonodictyon. Excavating, with epilithic bright yellow large papillae; excavating mass soft, fills the entire cavities. It may encrust all the excavated substratum becoming massive. Exudes abundant mucus when handled. |
(Rützler, 1971) |
yellow,encrusting,tube,papillated,massive,tough,crumbly |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Phloeodictyidae |
Aka siphona |
2 |
Placed previously under genus Siphonodictyon. Excavating and agglutinating rubble buried under sandy substratum, with epilithic brown papillae. Releases mucus when handled. |
(de Laubenfels, 1949) |
brown,papillated,tube,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Phloeodictyidae |
Aka xamaycaensis |
2 |
Originally described under genus Siphonodictyon. Excavating with epilithic white papillae. Exudes mucus when handled. |
(Pulitzer-Finali, 1986) |
white,papillated,tough |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Phloeodictyidae |
Calyx podatypa |
2 |
This name was mistakenly used for Svenzea zeai, but it is a distinct species. Creeping cylinders and cavity-filling masses or crusts under corals and rubble in shallow water. Surface often pierced by holes. Parts of the same sponge hard, others crumbly. Bahamas material has as spicules thin oxea 92-122 x up to 2 µm arranged in the surface in a tangential unispicular reticulation, more paucispicular in the interior. Cavity filling specimens of Neopetrosia rosariensis (Zea & Rützler, 1981) may be confused with this species because they also have fields of holes in the surface. The latter are darker, almost black, hard throughout the body, often with elevated tubular oscules and thin branchelets, and have slightly larger and thicker oxeote spicules (130-175 x 3-5 µm for the Bahamas material), with points often a bit blunt or stair-stepped. |
(de Laubenfels, 1934) |
brown,encrusting,crumbly |
| Demospongiae |
Haplosclerida |
Phloeodictyidae |
Oceanapia bartschi |
8 |
From small, cavity filling, to medium-size globular, to large barrel-shaped; it is characterized by having a central highly collared and transparent oscule, and erect fistules densely scattered throughout the surface. Tissue color of oscule and fistules is brown. The remaining surface is heavily fouled with crustose, filamentous and flesy algae and sometimes other sessile invertebrates. |
(de Laubenfels, 1934) |
black,brown,spherical,massive,papillated,tough,crumbly |
