Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
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Two Little Fishies 

Family Leucosoleniidae

Leucosolenia eleanor

Urban, 1905

Tube Ball Sponge

Not Reef Tank Suitable

Not Suitable for Fish-Only Tank

Range: North Eastern Pacific Ocean

Natural Environment: Inhabits undersides of boulders and crevices.

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 40 to 50°F (4 - 10°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 eleanor (Tube Ball Sponge)
Photo © Daniel Geiger
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