Haliclona amboinensis

(Lévi, 1961)

Finger Sponge

Range: Indian Ocean: East African.

Natural Environment: Inhabits reef slope areas where current is swift.

Aquarium Suitability: Not collected for the home aquarium trade.

Best left in the wild.

Note: For a photo of this sponge, visit the Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide, page 40.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Porifera

Class: Demospongiae

Subclass: Heteroscleromorpha

Order: Haplosclerida

Family: Chalinidae

Genus: Haliclona

FYI: Feeds by drawing water in and through its pores and filtering out bacteria and organic particles, then expelling the filtered water out through the osculi.