Scalarispongia scalaris

(Schmidt, 1862)

Leather Sponge

Range: Northern Atlantic Ocean: European Waters.

Natural Environment: Inhabits lagoon areas, sometimes near heavy alga growths.

Aquarium Suitability: Not collected for the home tropical aquarium trade.

Best left in the wild.

Note: For another photo of this sponge, visit the Baensch Marine Atlas Vol. 2, page 105.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Porifera

Class: Demospongiae

Subclass: Keratosa

Order: Dictyoceratida

Family: Thorectidae

Genus: Scalarispongia

FYI: Shown here for identification only.

Has a temperature range of 50 - 68ºF (10 - 20ºC).

Sponges posses no nervous, digestive or excretory systems, and feed by filtering suspended bacteria and fine detritus. Strong water movement is vital to almost all, not only for carrying food to these sessile creatures but also to carry waste/unused matter away. In fact, a sponge the size of a baseball can filter about fifty gallons of water per hour!

Previously identified as Cacospongia scalaris.