Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
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Family Thorectidae

Lendenfeldia dendyi

(Lendenfeld, 1889)

Honey Mountain Sponge

Likely Reef Tank Suitable

Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable

Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean

Natural Environment: Inhabits reef flats and slopes where currents are strong.

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 72.

Taxonomy:

    Kingdom: Animalia

    Phylum: Porifera

    Class: Demospongiae

    Subclass: Keratosa

    Order: Dictyoceratida

    Family: Thorectidae

    Genus: Lendenfeldia

FYI: 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!

Was previously identified as Phyllospongia dendyi.

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