Last one.... name that sponge !!!!!

[Allen glover]

Noodly appendages just aint cutting it as a google images search question. Any sponge experts out there give me a good or bad on this guy. I was on a sand flat above the low tide mark and their was a lot of other rocks around with it on it. Being intertidal seems to be odd for a sponge but im no expert on anything marine. Also the way its colonized that rock makes it looks like it could be pretty invasive

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hi Allen. I'm a huge fan of sponges, although I'm far from as knowledgeable as I would like to be.

That sure is a curious sponge. Are you 100% sure it is a sponge?
Is the 'stuff' below the tentacles part of the sponge? Is it soft?
Were did you find it (i.e that city or state or country)?

I snorkel the near shore reef flats in the Florida Keys a lot and I see lots of sponges, but none above the low tide zone. An inter-tidal sponge would be uncommon. And then there is the question of whether or not it's photosynthetic (few sponges are).

 

[Allen glover]

Hi Allen. I'm a huge fan of sponges, although I'm far from as knowledgeable as I would like to be.

That sure is a curious sponge. Are you 100% sure it is a sponge?
Is the 'stuff' below the tentacles part of the sponge? Is it soft?
Were did you find it (i.e that city or state or country)?

I snorkel the near shore reef flats in the Florida Keys a lot and I see lots of sponges, but none above the low tide zone. An inter-tidal sponge would be uncommon. And then there is the question of whether or not it's photosynthetic (few sponges are).

Reefman thanks for the reply. I know next to nothing about them. it was found on a sandy intertidal flat in tropical queensland australia. I have seen it growing on a nearby rocky out crop but it seemed to have a definate prefference for discrete rocks on the sand. Both the matt and the spikes are soft to touch. I f i remeber rightly the soft spongy base was burried fully in the sand and just the fingers protruding.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Well, it's very cool looking, at least to a sponge lover like me! I wish I could try one. I've brought any number of sponges home from the Florida Keys, being extremely careful to make sure they are always underwater. I've had a couple of them survive for 6 to 12 months in a 'dirty' water shallow reef tank. I've got both black and yellow sponges that like to grow under rocks in aquariums, but I'd love to have some colorful ones that like to live in plain view. So your sponge is a curiosity to me.

Let's see if we can get any help here. #ReefSquad

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

I was doing a little searching and this is as close as I can find. It looks like a Polymastia penicillus. There are 30 different species in the genus Polymastia. Here is a picture of it

 

[taricha]

Cool find. I was thinking same as Ron's initial idea, that maybe it wasn't a rock, and it was a weird cucumber going to crawl away.

 

[Allen glover]

I was doing a little searching and this is as close as I can find. It looks like a Polymastia penicillus. There are 30 different species in the genus Polymastia. Here is a picture of it

Wow thanks for the work looks very similar especually the small one top right. I will research this further

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

Wow thanks for the work looks very similar especually the small one top right. I will research this further

You're welcome

 

[Allen glover]

Had a bit of a browse on polymastia penicillus and it seems to be a bit more of a cold water species. I found a big debate about some penicillus found in south australia which is very different and much colder water to where mine came from. Its definately a polymastia or a ciocalypta sp but the temp and hollow nature of penicillus doesnt quite fit. But thanks for your great help on this