ResearchGate
Info
One look at the photo of Rhizaxinella clava immediately conveys where the German name Maiskolbenschwamm comes from....
Rhizaxinella clava is found in coralline algae reefs and silted lower mesophotic reefs on coarse sandy bottoms
Brief Description:
Stalked sponge with oval main body,
Total length of specimen shown 8 cm, body 12 mm high, 8 mm in diameter, peduncle about 1.5 mm in diameter.
Peduncle optically smooth, main body microhispid. Oscule (now closed) apically on a slight elevation. Consistency of main body firm but easily compressible.
A light brown sponge (max. 15 cm total length) with a long thin stalk (2 mm diameter at attachment) and an upper spherical soft body (1 cm diameter at thickest point).
The surface is very smooth and velvety. The apical osculum is slit-shaped and has a collar-shaped membrane visible on the in situ photograph.
The "corncob sponge" is externally similar to the "lollipop sponge", Stylocordyla chupachups, and other members of the family Stylocordylidae, which are mostly found in cold, deep waters.
Synonym:
Axinella clava Schmidt, 1870
Rhizaxinella clava is found in coralline algae reefs and silted lower mesophotic reefs on coarse sandy bottoms
Brief Description:
Stalked sponge with oval main body,
Total length of specimen shown 8 cm, body 12 mm high, 8 mm in diameter, peduncle about 1.5 mm in diameter.
Peduncle optically smooth, main body microhispid. Oscule (now closed) apically on a slight elevation. Consistency of main body firm but easily compressible.
A light brown sponge (max. 15 cm total length) with a long thin stalk (2 mm diameter at attachment) and an upper spherical soft body (1 cm diameter at thickest point).
The surface is very smooth and velvety. The apical osculum is slit-shaped and has a collar-shaped membrane visible on the in situ photograph.
The "corncob sponge" is externally similar to the "lollipop sponge", Stylocordyla chupachups, and other members of the family Stylocordylidae, which are mostly found in cold, deep waters.
Synonym:
Axinella clava Schmidt, 1870
