''Spheciospongia vesparium'', commonly known as the loggerhead 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 ...

sea sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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. ...

. While it is highly toxic to many fish, this sponge is eaten by certain

angelfish Angelfish may refer to: *Several groups of fish: **Freshwater angelfish, tropical cichlids of the genus ''Pterophyllum'' **Marine angelfish of the family Pomacanthidae **Atlantic pomfret (''Brama brama''), sold by fishmongers as "angelfish" in Sou ...

and is known to form part of the diet of the

hawksbill sea turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is largel ...

(''Eretmochelys imbricata'').

Description

This massive sponge has varying forms in different locations. One common form is barrel-shaped or cake-shaped with a flattened top, but it may also be roughly globular or amorphous. The texture is firm, tough and dense. The surface is broadly undulating and rough, with a mixture of large and small osculi surrounded by groups of fine pores, each in diameter. The color of the sponge both inside and out is purplish, gray or brownish-black, and the surface is often partly obscured by sediment or by algae growing on it.

Distribution and habitat

This sponge is native to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

and around the coasts of 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 occurs on patch reefs and in lagoons; when growing on soft sediment it often has a wider and deeper base than when growing on rock. Its depth range is .

Ecology

Although it is toxic to many vertebrates, some fish have been observed to feed on this sponge, a fact confirmed by fragments of the sponge being found in their guts; these fish include the

queen angelfish The queen angelfish (''Holacanthus ciliaris''), also known as the blue angelfish, golden angelfish, or yellow angelfish, is a species of marine angelfish found in the western Atlantic Ocean. It is a benthic (ocean floor) warm-water species that ...

(''Holacanthus ciliaris''), the

rock beauty The rock beauty (''Holacanthus tricolor''), also known as corn sugar, coshubba, rock beasty, catalineta, and yellow nanny, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a marine angelfish belonging to the family Pomacanthidae. It is found in the wester ...

(''Holacanthus tricolor'') and the

French angelfish The French angelfish (''Pomacanthus paru'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a marine angelfish belonging to the family Pomacanthidae. It occurs in the Western Atlantic Ocean. Description The French angelfish has a laterally compressed bo ...

(''Pomacanthus paru''). Other predators feeding on the sponge include the

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class (biology), class of generally marine invertebrate, marine annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that ...

worm '' Branchiosyllis oculata'', and the red cushion sea star (''Oreaster reticulatus''). It is also preyed upon by the

(''Eretmochelys imbricata''). The tunnels and cavities inside the sponge are home to a wide array of invertebrates. Being a suspension feeder, this sponge has been found to be helpful in controlling harmful blooms of

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...

; sites in

Florida Bay Florida Bay is the bay located between the southern end of the Florida mainland (the Florida Everglades) and the Florida Keys in the United States. It is a large, shallow estuary that while connected to the Gulf of Mexico, has limited exchange o ...

with an abundance of loggerhead sponges were found to have few or no blooms whereas similar sites with few sponges had long-lasting, dense blooms.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q141164 Hadromerida Fauna of the Atlantic Ocean Fauna of the Caribbean Fauna of the Dominican Republic Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Animals described in 1814