Demospongiae |
Poecilosclerida |
Desmacididae
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Reef-associated; brackish; depth range 0 - 75 m (Ref. 108813). Tropical
Western Atlantic and Western Pacific: Caribbean wide, tropical Atlantic.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 0.5 cm WD male/unsexed; (Ref. 415)
Growth is highly variable from thick crusts to massive lobate, or sparsely to profusely branching. Smooth surface with barely visible pale dermal canals towards the oscules. Exterior is pink or pale reddish to lavender-gray to almost white. Interior is always dark red. Soft, compressible and elastic; interior crumbly. Elevated oscules with a white conical membrane (Ref. 85482).
Known from rocky bottoms (Ref. 83912). Widely distributed in shallow reef habitats, lagoons (Ref. 415), mangrove and seagrass. Early colonizer of shallow artificial reefs (Ref. 85482). Commensal with amphipods (Ref. 82302).
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.
Collin, R., M.C. Díaz, J. Norenburg, R.M. Rocha, J.A. Sánchez, M. Schulze, A. Schwartz and A. Valdés. 2005. (Ref. 415)
IUCN Red List Status
(Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
CITES status (Ref. 108899)
Not Evaluated
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
| FishSource |
Tools
More information
Trophic EcologyFood items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Population dynamicsGrowth
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycleReproductionMaturityFecunditySpawningEggsEgg developmentLarvaeLarval dynamics Human RelatedAquaculture profiles
Stamps, coins, misc.
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature
(Ref.
115969): 23.9 - 29, mean 27.6 (based on 1186 cells).
Vulnerability
Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category
Unknown.