Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
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Family Haliscarcidae

Halisarca caerulea

Vacelet & Donaday, 1989

Encrusting Star Sponge

Likely Reef Tank Suitable

Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable

Range: Western Atlantic Ocean: Florida, Caribbean, and the Bahamas.

Natural Environment: Inhabits reef slopes and coral rubble.

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 127.

Taxonomy:

    Kingdom: Animalia

    Phylum: Porifera

    Class: Demospongiae

    Subclass: Verongimorpha

    Order: Chondrillida

    Family: Haliscarcidae

    Genus: Halisarca

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!

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