Turret sponge

turret sponge
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Demospongiae
Order: Haplosclerida
Suborder: Haplosclerina
Family: Chalinidae
Genus: Haliclona
Subgenus: Haliclona (Haliclona)
Species: H. anonyma
Binomial name
Haliclona (Haliclona) anonyma
(Stephens, 1915)

The turret sponge, Haliclona (Haliclona) anonyma, is a species of demosponge,.[1][2] It is known around the South African coast, from the Cape Peninsula to Sodwana Bay.[2]

Description

The turret sponge grows to about 50 cm across and has turrets of up to 15 cm long. It is a pink to purplish many-turreted sponge, which grows in sheets usually on vertical walls. Its surface is slightly bristly, and its texture is soft and compressible.[2]

Habitat

This sponge lives from the intertidal zone and down to at least 18m underwater.[3]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=234295 accessed 25 November 2010
  2. 1 2 3 Samaai, T. and Gibbons, M.J. 2005. Demospongiae taxonomy and biodiversity of the Benguela region on the west coast of South Africa. Afr. Nat. Hist. 1(1):1-96
  3. ↑ Jones, Georgina. A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula. SURG, Cape Town, 2008. ISBN 978-0-620-41639-9


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