''Crambe crambe'', commonly known as the oyster sponge or orange-red encrusting sponge, is a species of

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 belonging to the family

Crambeidae Crambeidae is a family of marine demosponges. Identification of members of this family of sponges is based on microscopic examination of the spicules in their skeleton. The megascleres consist of peripheral thinner subtylostyles and thicker c ...

Description

The colonies of ''Crambe crambe'' form thin orange to orange-red plates, rarely lobed, with a very rough surface perforated by raised oscula found along the exhaling channels. These colonies can cover a surface of 1 m².

Biology

''Crambe crambe'' feeds by filtering bacteria, microorganisms and single-celled algae. This species is hermaphrodite. Larvae are planktonic. These demosponges often cover the shell of live shellfish (''

Arca noae ARCA or Arca may refer to: Companies * Arca-Filmproduktion GmbH, the German film production company of Gero Wecker * Arca Fondi SGR, Italian asset management company * Arca South, an industrial estate in the Philippines * ARCAspace, an aeros ...

'', ''

Spondylus ''Spondylus'' is a genus of bivalve molluscs, the only genus in the family (biology), family Spondylidae.MolluscaBase (2019). MolluscaBase. Spondylus Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies ...

'' and various sedentary bivalves). ''

Eupolymnia nebulosa ''Eupolymnia nebulosa'' is a species of sedentary marine polychaete worm in the Terebellidae family. It builds a tube of slime under stones or large shells on soft substrates on the lower shore and down to depths of about 500 metres. Description ...

'' sometimes hides itself on these sponges.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the Mediterranean, but it is also present in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the English Channel and in the North Sea.Doris - Données d'Observations pour la Reconnaissance et l'Identification de la faune et la flore Subaquatiques
/ref>Duran S, Giribet G, Turon X
Phylogeographical history of the sponge Crambe crambe (Porifera, Poecilosclerida): range expansion and recent invasion of the Macaronesian islands from the Mediterranean Sea
/ref>

Habitat

''Crambe crambe'' commonly occurs in well-lit waters on hard substrate at depths of 5 to 30 m.

Gallery

File:Arca noae in Banuyls.jpg, ''

'' coveded by ''Crambe crambe'' File:Eupolymnia nebulosa & Crambe crambe.jpg, ''

'' on ''Crambe crambe'' File:Esponja roja (Crambe crambe), Regga, Gozo, Malta, 2021-08-23, DD 04.jpg, ''Crambe crambe''

Bibliography

* Babiç, K. 1922. Monactinellida und Tetractinellida des Adriatischen Meeres. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 46(2): 217-302, pls 8-9. * Barnes D.K.A.; Bell, J.J. (2002) Coastal sponge communities of the West Indian Ocean: taxonomic affinities, richness and diversity., Afr. J. Ecol. 40: 337-349 * Burton, M. (1956) The sponges of West Africa., Atlantide Report (Scientific Results of the Danish Expedition to the Coasts of Tropical West Africa, 1945-1946, Copenhagen) 4: 111-147. * Lendenfeld, R. Von (1894) Die Tetractinelliden der Adria. (Mit einem Anhange über die Lithistiden)., Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademieder Wissenschaften.Wien. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaften Klasse 61: 91-204, pls I-VIII. * Mustapha, K.B.,Zarrouk, S., Souissi, A., ; El Abed, A. (2003) iversite Des Desmosponges Tunisiennes., Bull.Inst. Natn. Scien. Tech. Mer de Salammbô. Vol. 30 * Pansini, M. (1987) Littoral demosponges from the banks of the Strait of Sicily and the Alboran Sea., * Sarà, M. (1960) Poriferi del litorale dell’isola d’lschia e loro ripartizioneper ambienti., Pubblicazioni della Stazione zoologica di Napoli 31(3):421-472, pls XII-XIII. * Sarà, M.; Siribelli, L. (1960) La fauna di Poriferi delle ‘secche’ del Golfo di Napoli. 1. La ‘secca’ della Gaiola., Annuario dell’Istituto e Museo de Zoologia dell’Università di Napoli 12(3): 1-93. * Schmidt, O. (1862) Die Spongien des adriatischen Meeres., (Wilhelm Engelmann: Leipzig): i-viii, 1-88, pls 1-7. * Schmidt, O. (1864) Supplement der Spongien des adriatischen Meeres. Enthaltend die Histologie und systematische Ergänzungen., (Wilhelm Engelmann: Leipzig): i-vi, 1-48, pls 1-4. * Topsent, E. (1892) Diagnoses d’éponges nouvelles de la Méditerranée et plus particulièrement de Banyuls., Archives de Zoologie expérimentale et générale (2) 10 (Notes et Revue 6) xvii-xxviii. * Van Soest, R.W.M. (1990) Monanchora stocki n. sp. (Porifera, Poecilosclerida) from the Mid-Atlantic Islands., Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde 60 (3-4): 249-255 * Van Soest, R.W.M. (2001) Porifera, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001)., European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: * Van Soest, R.W.M. (2002) Family Crambeidae Lévi, 1963. * Vosmaer, G.C.J. (1880) The Sponges of the Leyden Museum. 1. The family of the Desmacidinae., Notes from the Leyden Museum 2: 99-164.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1883674 Taxa named by Eduard Oscar Schmidt Animals described in 1862