Agelas mauritiana

(Carter, 1883)

Orange Leather Sponge

Range: Indo-Pacific Ocean: Malaysia.

Natural Environment: Inhabits shaded rocks and dead corals within crevices and underneath overhangs.

Aquarium Suitability: Not collected for the home aquarium trade.

Best left in the wild.

Note: For a photo of this sponge, visit the Baensch Marine Atlas Vol. 2, page 81.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Porifera

Class: Demospongiae

Subclass: Heteroscleomorpha

Order: Caenogastropoda

Family: Agelasida

Genus: Agelas

FYI: Feeds by drawing water in and through its pores and filtering out bacteria and organic particles, then expelling the filtered water out through the osculi.

Has embedded chemicals to prevent tissue loss to predators.

Has thick leathery growth.