Diurnal Horny Sponge

Hymeniacidon heliophila

• Group: Other
• Typical depth: 1–6 m

This crusty sponge grows as a thin skin over rocks, pilings and mangrove roots in shallow bays down to about 6 metres. It often settles on other living surfaces, an epibiont that spreads wherever there is hard ground in vegetated shallows.

Taxonomy: Animalia › Porifera › Demospongiae › Suberitida › Halichondriidae › Hymeniacidon

Species data via the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), AphiaID 132652.