| Common Name(s): |
None. |
| Growth Form: |
Cluster of small tubes <10 cm high and 2-4 cm wide, or irregular lobate mass with short broad tubes. |
| Surface: |
Usually uniformly rugose; sometimes weakly lumpy. |
| Color: |
White to gray externally and internally; some specimens have a pinkish tinge. |
| Consistency: |
Soft, compressible. |
| Oscules: |
Apical on each tube (1-2 cm in diameter), with a white membrane. Apical oscules are compound, that is, the single external opening leads into multiple interior openings. |
| Skeletal Components (Spicules, Fibers): |
No spicules. Algal filaments embedded in spongin (60-80 μm in diameter) substitute for the fiber skeleton. |
| Skeletal Architecture: |
Algal filaments almost completely substitute for the fiber reticulation typical of the genus. Fibers are not visible in most of the skeleton. The sponge also incorporates sand grains and broken spicules. No particular external specialization. |
| Ecology: |
Encrusts on rocks, shells, dead coral or other sponges, in shallow lagoons and coral reefs (15-21 m deep in South Florida). |
| Distribution: |
Bermuda, Bahamas, South Florida and the Lesser Antilles. |
| Notes: |
Fits the description in the literature, except for the predominantly white to gray instead of pink color, and the obvious apical oscules. |
| References: |
van Soest (1978), Zea (1987). |
| Similar species: |
Verongula rigida |
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