Tree sponge
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Demospongiae
Order: Poecilosclerida
Family: Microcionidae
Genus: Echinoclathria
Species:
E. dichotoma
Binomial name
Echinoclathria dichotoma
(Lévi, 1963)
Synonyms
  • Ophlitaspongia dichotoma Lévi, 1963

The tree sponge (Echinoclathria dichotoma) is a species of demosponge.[1] It is known from the west coast of South Africa to Cape Agulhas. It is endemic to this region.[1]

Description

The tree sponge may grow to 150 mm (5.9 in) in height. It is a bright red to dirty orange sponge which grows upright and branches like a tree.[1][2] The surface texture is smooth and the branch tips are rounded.[1] Its oscula are small (<1 mm (0.039 in) and inconspicuous.[1][2] The surface may be covered in a slimy mucus.[2]

Distribution and habitat

This sponge is found on the south and west coasts of South Africa where it lives on rocky reefs subtidally to 69 m (226 ft).[2][3]

Ecology

This sponge is often colonised by a white zoanthid, Parazoanthus sp.[4]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Echinoclathria dichotoma.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Samaai, T. and Gibbons, M.J. 2005. Demospongiae taxonomy and biodiversity of the Benguela region on the west coast of South Africa. Afr. Nat. Hist. 1(1):1-96
  2. 1 2 3 4 Atkinson, Lara J; Sink, Kerry J (2018). Field guide to the offshore marine invertebrates of South Africa (PDF). Pretoria: South African Environmental Observation Network. ISBN 978-1-86868-098-6. OCLC 1037159161.
  3. ↑ Jones, Georgina. A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula. SURG, Cape Town, 2008. ISBN 978-0-620-41639-9
  4. ↑ Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa ISBN 978-1-77007-772-0


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