Diplastrella megastellata

Hechtel, 1965

Red Encrusting Sponge

Range: Western Atlantic Ocean: Caribbean.

Natural Environment: Inhabits reef and lagoon areas.

Aquarium Suitability: Not collected for the home aquarium trade.

Best left in the wild.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Porifera

Class: Demospongiae

Subclass: Heteroscleromorpha

Order: Clionaida

Family: Spirastrellidae

Genus: Diplastrella

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!

Yields a strong anti-feeding chemical to withstand being fed upon by fishes.