''Cliona californiana'', the yellow boring sponge, boring sponge or sulphur sponge, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
demosponge belonging to the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Clionaidae
Clionaidae is a family of demosponges which are found worldwide. This family is known for parasitically boring holes in calcareous material such as mollusc shells and corals, using both chemical and mechanical processes.Brusca, R.C. & Brusca, G. ...
. It is native to the north-eastern Pacific Ocean and burrows into the shell valves of bivalve molluscs.
Description
The yellow boring sponge inhabits living
bivalve molluscs
Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...
, boring into the
shell valves. The only parts of the sponge which are visible from the outside are small yellow patches up to in diameter, sometimes containing small
oscula (openings). The sponge spicules are silicaceous (glassy) and are scattered throughout the sponge tissues. They consist entirely of
megascleres known as "tylostyles", which are a kind of spicule with a single shaft, with a point on one end and a knob on the other. These characteristic spicules distinguish this sponge from any other sponge species found in the locality.
Distribution and habitat
The yellow boring sponge is native to the north-eastern Pacific Ocean, its range extending from
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
to
Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
. It is most often found in the
subtidal zone but also occurs in the
intertidal zone. It is more common in the colder waters in the northern part of its range than it is in the southern part, and it occurs at depths down to about .
[
]
Ecology
A newly settled young sponge makes its way to the shell of a suitable host and bores into a valve of the mollusc (or the plates of the barnacle).[ Its tunnelling activities weaken the shell, and scallop and oyster farmers consider the sponge to be a pest. When burrowing, it secretes acid which dissolves the shell, and then it breaks off small pieces of shell and moves them to the exterior.][ When it outgrows its tunnels, it spreads across the surface of the valve as a thick coating layer, and when it gets too big for its host, it becomes a free-living sponge with a length of up to and a height of .]oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...
s.[ The sponge is preyed on by the nudibranch '' Doriopsilla albopunctata''.][
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2169913
Demospongiae
Animals described in 1932
Fauna of the Pacific Ocean