Crumb-of-bread sponge

crumb-of-bread sponge Hymeniacidon perlevis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Porifera
Class:	Demospongiae
Subclass:	Ceractinomorpha
Order:	Halichondrida
Family:	Halichondriidae
Genus:	Hymeniacidon
Species:	H. perlevis
Binomial name
Hymeniacidon perlevis (Montagu, 1818)

The crumb-of-bread sponge, Hymeniacidon perlevis, is a species of sponge in the class demosponges.

Distribution

The crumb-of-bread sponge is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean sea and the Pacific Ocean, as well as around the southern African coast from the northern Cape to Port St Johns. It lives from the intertidal zone in tide pools to a maximum depth of about 15 meters (about 50 feet).

Description

The crumb-or-bread sponge is a thickly encrusting sponge with a glistening bumpy surface. Specimens found intertidally are bright yellow. Specimens from deeper water are darker. The oscula are scattered across the surface of the sponge and may be flush with the sponge surface or on raised mounds.^[1]

Ecology

The form of the sponge is variable, depending on its environment. In sheltered areas, branched structures grow from the base. In areas with wave action the surface is convoluted or flat.^[2]

References

1. Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E (2005): Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa ISBN 0-86486-672-0
2. Jones, Georgina. A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula. SURG, Cape Town, 2008. ISBN 978-0-620-41639-9

External links