Porifera · sponges
Breadcrumb sponge
Halichondria panicea
Halichondriidae · breadcrumb spongesIUCN: Not evaluated
A green-to-yellow crust sponge with volcano-shaped openings, common on rocky shores.
Fun factCrush a piece and it smells like gunpowder.
- Waters
- Northeast US, Northwest Atlantic, Northeast Atlantic, North Pacific
- Depth zone
- Intertidal shore, Coastal shallows & estuaries
- Diet
- Bacteria & particles (filter feeder)
- Size
- Crusts up to 20 cm
Classification
Porifera › Demospongiae › Halichondriidae
- Kingdom Animalia animals
- Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
- Cells have no cell walls
- Most can move at some stage of life
- Phylum Porifera sponges
- Body is a porous sac with no true tissues or organs
- Special collar cells (choanocytes) pump water through pores to filter food
- Skeleton made of tiny spikes (spicules) and/or spongy fibers
- Class Demospongiae demosponges
- The largest group of sponges, about 80% of all species
- Skeleton of silica spikes, flexible protein fibers (spongin), or both
- Includes the soft bath sponges people once harvested
- Family Halichondriidae breadcrumb sponges
- Breadcrumb sponges: soft, crumbly crusts on rocks and seaweed
- Surface dotted with raised, volcano-like openings (oscula)
- Genus Halichondria
- Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
- Species Halichondria panicea Breadcrumb sponge
Closest relatives in the guide
- Boring sponge Cliona celata same class
- Giant barrel sponge Xestospongia muta same class