Likely Reef Tank Suitable
Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable
Range: Western Atlantic Ocean: Belize, Cuba and local USA areas.
Natural Environment: Inhabits local reefs and encrusts dead coral and the base areas of live corals.
Aquarium Suitability: Not collected for the home aquarium trade.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Demospongiae
Subclass: Heteroscleomorpha
Order: Poecilosclerida
Family: Hymedesmiidae
Genus: Phorbas
FYI: Shown here for identification only.
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.
Generally reddish brown and having an irregularly shaped mass.