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sponges
text index | photo
index
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| Phylum Porifera |
| Spiky
ball sponge Dysidea sp.* Family Dysideidae updated Dec 11 Where seen? This spiky ball- or cushion-shaped sponge is commonly seen on coral rubble on our Northern shores. Features: 8-10cm in diameter, ball- or rounded, cushion shape with lots of large holes. Sometimes also encrusting or with lobes, fingers, or even maze-like walls. The surface is very spiky. Colours in pastel shades ranging from beige, lilac, blue to pale pink and beige, apparently depending on the type of symbiotic bacteria found in the sponge. Sometimes, these sponges are draped with synaptid sea cucumbers and brittle stars are sometimes glimpsed deep in the crevices of the sponge. When broken, Dysidea species often produce a strong medicinal smell. Dysidea species don't produce their own spicules. Instead, foreign spicules and sand grains are incoporated into the skeleton thus making species identification difficult. |
 Beting Bronok, May 06  |
 Brittle star deep in the crevices. Chek Jawa, Jun 06 |
 Sometimes draped with synaptid sea cucumbers Chek Jawa, Jun 06 |
Spiky ball sponges on Singapore shores
 Chek Jawa, Jan 02 
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 Pulau Sekudu, Jul 08  |
 Tuas, Feb 07  |
*Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.
References
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