the Sponge Guide - www.spongeguide.org

Demospongiae > Dictyoceratida > Spongiidae > Hyattella cavernosa

Observed Characteristics:

Color:

gray
green
black
cream

Morphology:

encrusting
lobate
massive

Consistency:

tough

Sample Locations:

Bahamas
Colombia

Species Description and Notes

Notes: Also named Hyattella intestinalis (Lamarck, 1814) (a name from the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific). Semiburied masses crown with irregular processes and lobes, gray to black on top, gray to cream on the sides and in buried parts. Areas of semitransparent skin pierced by fields of holes are common. The material examined from the Bahamas possess the characteristic Spongiidae (commercial sponge) primary (cored) and secondary reticulation, plus the tertiary reticulation supporting the dermis in some parts. Not to be confused with Hyrtios cavernosus sensu Wiedenmayer (1977), which is a different species also included here, that may need a different name as the latter author believed it was conspecific with Pallas' Spongia cavernosa.

Author Reference: (Pallas, 1766)

 

Link: World Porifera Database

 

Images

Hyattella cavernosa


Location: Colombia, Santa Marta
Photographer: Sven Zea

Location: Colombia, Santa Marta
Photographer: Sven Zea

Location: Bahamas, Northern Exuma Cays
Photographer: Sven Zea