23 Sept 2009

A sponge that eats rocks?


Chemical warfare is the most brutal and can be used by very fragile species in the sea in order to defeat the strongest!
This boring yellow sponge uses a chemical acid by product from its respiration to make holes in soft limestone rock, to undercut and surround tiny pieces of rock, which are then spat out with the water flow. In many instances, most of the sponge is hidden in a network of passages and chambers that it has excavated in the substrate, which can be rock or shells. In some instances it can be visible outside the rock in very obvious masses.
This particular specimen is surrounded by a colony of black bryozoa, Reptadeonella violacea .
I have seen the sponge in red as well, but am not sure if it is the same species.

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