Spongia officinalis   Linnaeus, 1759

Greek bathing sponge

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Spongia officinalis  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos 
 All pictures | Google image |
Image of Spongia officinalis (Greek bathing sponge)
Spongia officinalis

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Demospongiae | Dictyoceratida | Spongiidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Sessile; depth range 5 - 76 m (Ref. 363), usually 5 - 40 m (Ref. 363).  Subtropical; 46° - 25°

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Mediterranean. Reports from the Indo-West Pacific, Caribbean must checked.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm

Short description Morphology

Sponge: variable; generally massive; round, but being able equipped with regular lobes (especially at the large specimens); or with large conical lobes osculus. Surface equipped with many small conules regular. Osculus: 0.3 to 1 cm in diameter; often raised. Primary fibers: 0.005 to 0.01 cm diameter; very few formed at their end in the conules by the anastomoses of several fibers; and containing some foreign bodies. The secondary fibers: 0.002 with 0.0035 cm of diameter; in tightened network sometimes finest close to surface. Coloring: color varying of the a little yellowish white to the black according to illumination, whitish with color of rust inside

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Maximum size: Can exceed 35 cm in diameter. Depth: common between 5 m (under the overhangs) and 40 m; rare between 40 and 76 m. Importance: The fine sponge; used especially for the toilet, is exploited mainly in Greece, but with a weak production (Ref. 363).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Members of the class Demospongiae are hermaphroditic. Life cycle: The zygote develops into parenchymella larva (free-swimming) before settling down on a substrate where it grows into a young sponge.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Vacelet, J. 1987. (Ref. 363)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial
| FishSource |

Tools

E-book | Field guide

More information

Trophic Ecology
Food items
Diet
Food consumption
Ration
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth
Age/Size
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Fecundity
Spawning
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Human Related
Aquaculture profile
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Pictures
References
References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 16.2 - 28.4, mean 25.4 (based on 1548 cells).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Comments & Corrections
Back to Search
Random Species
Back to Top