External characters
massive, subcylindrical.
Colour
light tan brown in life; cream-coloured in ethanol.
Skeletal Characters
Oscules | sieve plates present, variable in size, 1–5mm (d). |
Texture | firm, barely compressible, resilient, friable, chalky, easily broken. |
Surface_Ornamentation | gritty, sandpapery feel; ectosome easily rubbed away. |
Ectosomal_Skeleton | not very well distinguished from choanosome; unspecialised; brushes of oxeas penetrate surface. |
Choanosomal_Skeleton | isodictyal reticulation of oxeas, forming irregular meshes; spongin present at nodes; unispicular tracts ascend to ectosome. |
Megascleres | oxeas: 3 classes class 1: stout, medium length, slightly curved, ends sharply pointed, very common, 130–150 × 6 μm; class 2: slender, strongylote, with one rounded end and other pointed, rarer than class 1 oxea, ~110 × 2 μm; class 3: small, stout, ends sharply pointed, 40–45 × 2 μm. |
Microscleres | nil. |
Mudmap_Author | K Hall |
Mudmap_Editor | Kathryn Hall |
Distribution
In French Polynesia: Society and Tuamotu islands
Ecology and habitat
Outer reef slope and in the lagoon on pinnacles
QM2309 Haliclona sp. (OTU QM2309) . In: Hall, K.A. & Hooper, J.N.A. (2014) SpongeMaps: an online community for taxonomy and identification of sponges. (Available at http://www.spongemaps.org).