Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
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Family Petrosiidae

Neopetrosia exigua

(Kirkpatrick, 1900)

Wall Sponge

Likely Reef Tank Suitable

Likely Fish-Only Tank Suitable

Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean

Natural Environment: Inhabits deep reef slopes 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 38.

Taxonomy:

    Kingdom: Animalia

    Phylum: Porifera

    Class: Demospongiae

    Subclass: Heteroscleromorpha

    Order: Haplosclerida

    Family: Petrosiidae

    Genus: Neopetrosia

FYI: Sponges posses no nervous, digestive or excretory systems, and feed by filtering suspended bacteria and fine detritus. Strong water movement is vital to almost all, not only for carrying food to these sessile creatures but also to carry waste/unused matter away. In fact, a sponge the size of a baseball can filter about fifty gallons of water per hour!

Was previously Xestospongia exigua.

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