Sponge Guide

UNCW National Science Foundation Valdosta State University Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Observed Characteristics:

Color:

  • pink-lilac
  • orange
  • cream

Morphology:

  • lobate
  • massive
  • tube

Consistency:

  • soft

Sample Locations:

  • United States

Batzella sp.-“creamy salmon”

Notes: Thick encrustations, or masses, with irregular lobes. Skin color creamy, over an orange internal tissue, producing an overal withish salmon color. Consistency soft. Spicules are straight strongyles with one of the sides slightly engrossed and the other slighlty pointed, making them look like subtylostyles. Spicules are equal in shape to co-existing Batzella rubra (Alcolado, 1984), also pictured here, but shorter in length and slightly stouter. Needs to be compared to Batzella rosea van Soest, 1984.