the Sponge Guide - www.spongeguide.org

Demospongiae > Haplosclerida > Niphatidae > Amphimedon complanata

Observed Characteristics:

Color:

  • black

Morphology:

  • encrusting

Consistency:

  • tough

Locations:

  • Bahamas

Species Description and Notes

Notes: 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 Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864, also pictured here. 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.

Author Reference: (Duchassaing, 1850)

 

Link: World Porifera Database

Tissue and Spicule Images

Images

complanata

  • Location: Stirrups Cays, N Berry Islands, Bahamas
  • Photographer: Sven Zea
  • Location: Stirrups Cays, N Berry Islands, Bahamas
  • Photographer: Sven Zea
  • Location: Sweetings Cay, Bahamas
  • Photographer: Sven Zea