''Agelas clathrodes'', also known as the orange elephant ear sponge, is a species of
sea sponge. It lives on
reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...
s in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
, usually more than below the surface of the ocean. It takes various forms, and its color is reddish orange.
Description
The orange elephant ear sponge is very variable in form. It may be encrusting, developing a thickness up to thick
or have large, flabby lobes or be fan-, tube- or ridge-shaped. Large specimens may combine several of these forms. The surfaces are perforated by small holes, both circular and irregularly elongate, especially on the side away from the current. The flesh is tough, firm and resilient and the thick surface skin is rough to the touch. The colour can vary from yellow, through orange to brick red or brown.
This sponge can be confused with ''
Agelas citrina
''Agelas'' is a genus of sea sponge in the class Demospongiae.
Ecology and distribution
Members of this genus are filter feeders. and occur in the West Indies, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean in shallow tropical and subtr ...
'' but that species is usually pinkish or creamy yellow. Another similar species is ''
Agelas sventres'' but that has round holes on the exposed side, each with a noticeable rim.
[
]
Distribution
The orange elephant ear sponge is found in the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
and Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. It is found on reefs and reef slopes and on vertical rock surfaces, particularly where the current is strong,[ and usually at depths greater than .][
]
Biology
Like other demosponge
Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide (World Porifera Database). They are sponges with a soft body that covers a har ...
s, the orange elephant ear sponge is a filter feeder
Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...
. Water circulates through the sponge, entering through fine pores and leaving through the larger holes. Oxygen and food particles (mostly bacteria) are removed from the water as it passes through the sponge, and waste products are carried away.
The orange elephant ear sponge is a hermaphrodite
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...
; different individuals in a particular population synchronise their spawning activity. In Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
, they usually choose an afternoon in the second half of July when the moon is in its fourth quarter.[ By all spawning at the same time, the sponges maximize their reproductive success. The eggs are surrounded by a mass of nurse cells which may provide nutrients to the developing ]larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
e. The orange elephant ear sponge also reproduces asexually
Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes or change in the number of chromosomes. The offspring that arise by asexual reproduction from either unicellular or multicellular organisms inherit the fu ...
. When pieces of sponge become detached they may later reattach themselves to the substrate.predatory
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
fish such as the blue-headed wrasse ('' Thalassoma bifasciatum''). Researchers found that the compounds involved were identical in various members of the genus ''Agelas
''Agelas'' is a genus of sea sponge in the class Demospongiae.
Ecology and distribution
Members of this genus are filter feeders. and occur in the West Indies, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean in shallow tropical and subtr ...
'', showing that such chemical defences must have been in use before the species evolved from a common ancestor.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1074242
Agelasida
Sponges described in 1870