Svenzea zeai

(Alvarez, van Soest & Rutzler, 1998)

Dark Volcano Sponge

Range: Western Atlantic Ocean: Caribbean.

Natural Environment: Inhabits shallow reefs where it encrusts dead corals and coral rubble.

Aquarium Suitability: Very rarely seen and usually found encrusting coral rubble or coral lower skeleton structure taken from the Caribbean area. It should be removed, as it is not maintainable in closed systems, and also may encroach living tissue on the coral specimens.

Best left in the wild.

Note: For a photo of this sponge, visit the Baensch Marine Atlas Vol. 2, page 52.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Porifera

Class: Demospongiae

Subclass: Heteroscleromorpha

Order: Scopalinida

Family: Scopalinidae

Genus: Svenzea

FYI: Was previously identified as Pseudoaxinella zeai.

Furthermore, keep in mind, if a hitchhiker sponge arrives attached to a coral specimen or live rock, it is reasonable to assume that at one time it was subjected to 'air' when the specimen or rock was harvested/shipped/transferred to various storage areas, thereby endangering the ongoing lifespan of the hitchhiker sponge, as it should never to subjected to air! Therefore the ongoing culture of hitchhiker sponges is dismal at best!