Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
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Family Niphatidae

Cribrochalina vasculum

(Lamarck, 1814)

Brown Bowl Sponge

Likely Reef Tank Suitable

Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable

Range: Western Atlantic Ocean: Bahamas.

Natural Environment: Inhabits local reef slopes.

Aquarium Suitability: Not collected for the home aquarium trade.

Best left in the wild.

Taxonomy:

    Kingdom: Animalia

    Phylum: Porifera

    Class: Demospongiae

    Subclass: Heteroscleromorpha

    Order: Haplosclerida

    Family: Niphatidae

    Genus: Cribrochalina

FYI: Shown here for identification only.

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!

 Cribrochalina vasculum (Brown Bowl Sponge)
Photo © Bob Fenner
Mycale laxissima Niphates digitalis
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