Pink vase sponge

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Pink vase sponge

Niphates digitalis

(Lamarck, 1814)

St. Eustatius, Blairs Reef, 16-06-2015 (source: Marion Haarsma)

Code

166775

Name

Pink vase sponge

Summary

Sponges. Thick vases to thin inverted cones, sometimes becoming fans. Light gray with pinkish or bluish hues; surface spiny, especially on the rim of the atrium. Spicules are pointed oxea.

To be confused with

- Azure vase sponge Callyspongia plicifera (differs in having meandering ridges and grooves on the outer surface instead of conules or spines.)

Characteristics

Size: 10 to 30 cm.
Colour: Pink through light bluish to grayish green or gray.
Shape: Small, round, inside the vase or cup. The apical opening has a characteristic fringe of soft spines usually connected by a transparent membrane. Outer surface also spiny.
Consistency: The sponge is rough with its irregular pits and nubs covering its surface.

Habitat environment and ecology

Inhabits coral reefs. On reefs and hard bottoms. Frequently infested with the brown colonial anemone Parazoanthus parasiticus.

Distribution range

BES-eilanden: Saba, St. Eustatius.

Author

[Niels Schrieken, May 2015]; [Floris Bennema, feb 2016]

Literature

- Humann, P., & DeLoach, N. (2002). Reef Creature Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas (p. 420). Jacksonville (FL): New World Publications.
- The Sponge Guide. S. Zea, Henkel, T.P., and Pawlik, J.R. 2014.
- Thacker, R. W., Díaz, M. C., De Voogd, N. J., Van Soest, R. W., Freeman, C. J., Mobley, A. S., ... & McKenna, S. (2010). Preliminary assessment of sponge biodiversity on Saba Bank, Netherlands Antilles. PloS one, 5(5), e9622. - Sponges Saba Bank