Demospongiae |
Dictyoceratida |
Irciniidae
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Reef-associated; brackish; depth range 1 - 50 m (Ref. 108813). Tropical
Western Atlantic: Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm Max length : 0.5 cm H male/unsexed; (Ref. 415)
Massive-globular with large sharp conules: up to 0.5 cm high; regularly spaced up to 1.3 cm apart. Membrane-bearing oscules: 0.2 - 1.5 cm wide; usually grouped onto a depression on top of the sponge. Dark gray to black externally, tan internally. Tough very hard to cut (Ref. 415). Morphology: fan, lobate, massive or spherical (Ref. 81728). Color often paler near the base, rarely almost white with. Black oscules; small specimens have only one oscule (Ref. 85482).
Maximum depth reported taken from Ref. 128739. Common on shallow reefs, seagrass beds (Ref. 415) and hard bottoms. Also found in mangroves (Ref. 86836). Occasionally on deeper muddy sand bottoms. Often emits a strong, sulfurous pungent scent when removed from the water (Ref. 85482). In Belize, it was found in a submarine cave near Columbus Cay (Ref. 87209). Inhabits coralline algae reefs, coral communities, and lower mesophotic reefs (Ref. 128739).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Members of the class Demospongiae are hermaphroditic. Life cycle: The zygote develops into parenchymella larva (free-swimming) before settling down on a substrate where it grows into a young sponge.
Collin, R., M.C. Díaz, J. Norenburg, R.M. Rocha, J.A. Sánchez, M. Schulze, A. Schwartz and A. Valdés 2005 Photographic identification guide to some common marine invertebrates of Bocas Del Toro, Panama. Caribbean Journal of Science. 41(3):638-707. (Ref. 415)
IUCN Red List Status
(Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
CITES status (Ref. 108899)
Not Evaluated
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Human uses
| FishSource |
Tools
More information
Trophic EcologyFood items (preys)Diet compositionFood consumptionPredators Population dynamicsGrowthMax. ages / sizesLength-weight rel.Length-length rel.Length-frequenciesMass conversionAbundance Life cycleReproductionMaturityFecunditySpawningEggsEgg developmentLarvae PhysiologyOxygen consumption
Human RelatedStamps, coins, misc.
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature
(Ref.
115969): 23.7 - 28.1, mean 27.3 (based on 722 cells).
Fishing Vulnerability
Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category
Unknown.
