Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
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Family Callyspongiidae

Callyspongia vaginalis

(Lamarck, 1814)

Branching Vase Sponge

Likely Reef Tank Suitable

Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable

Range: Western Atlantic Ocean: Florida, Bermuda, and the Bahamas.

Natural Environment: Inhabits deep reef flats and plateaus.

Aquarium Suitability: Not collected for the home aquarium trade.

Best left in the wild.

Taxonomy:

    Kingdom: Animalia

    Phylum: Porifera

    Class: Demospongiae

    Subclass: Heteroscleromorpha

    Order: Haplosclerida

    Family: Callyspongiidae

    Genus: Callyspongia

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.

Shown here for identification only.

 Callyspongia vaginalis (Branching Vase Sponge)
Photo © Daniel Geiger
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