Orange wall sponge

orange wall sponge
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Porifera
Class:	Demospongiae
Order:	Hadromerida
Family:	Trachycladidae
Genus:	Trachycladus
Species:	T. spinispirulifer
Binomial name
	Trachycladus spinispirulifer; (Carter, 1879)

The orange wall sponge, Trachycladus spinispirulifer, is a species of demosponge belonging to the order Hadromerida.^[1] It is found in the south Atlantic and Indo-Pacific oceans. Around the South African coast, it is known from the Cape Peninsula to Cape Agulhas.^[2]

Description

The orange wall sponge may grow to 20 cm thick and up to 2m in length. It is a very large firm orange-skinned sponge with a yellow interior. It grows as a wall and does not show obvious oscula.^[1]

Habitat

This sponge lives on rocky reefs in 5-350m of water.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b 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
^ ^a ^b 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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[Samaai-1] 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

[Jones_2008-2] 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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