Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
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Family Leucosoleniidae

Leucosolenia botryoides

(Ellis & Solander, 1786)

White Branching Tube Sponge

Not Reef Tank Suitable

Not Suitable for Fish-Only Tank

Range: Northern Atlantic Ocean: British Isles.

Natural Environment: Inhabits shaded cave walls, rubble and rocky shelf areas, and also found under overhangs where currents are strong.

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

Best left in the wild.

Taxonomy:

    Kingdom: Animalia

    Phylum: Porifera

    Class: Calcarea

    Subclass: Calcaronea

    Order: Leucosolenida

    Family: Leucosoleniidae

    Genus: Leucosolenia

FYI: Shown here for identification purpose only.

Has a temperature range of 50 to 65°F (10 - 18°C).

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!

These are sponges having skeletons composed of three or four rayed calcareous spicules, which consist of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite.

 Leucosolenia botryoides (White Branching Tube Sponge)
Photo © Daniel Geiger
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