Size
Colony height: 1cm or less (0.4")
Recognition Characters
Forms vase-shaped colonies, wider in the middle than at the ends with a crown of spicules projecting around the apical oscule. Consistency is stiff and the surface is microscopically hispid. The apical oscule, about one-half the diameter of the body, is surrounded by a crown of oxeas. A spongiocoel, a cloacal cavity running the length of the body, occupies the central axial region. Skeleton consists of a colloidal jelly and calcareous spicules. Spicules are (1) triaxons in the side walls (2) oxeas from the oscular crown (3) oxeas protruding from the surface (4) triaxons and (5) tetraxons from interior.
Color
Brownish white
Habitat & Depth
Attaches to rocks, shells, hydroids, and bryozoans.
Distribution at GRNMS
Rare. May go unnoticed because of small size.
Geographic Range
North Carolina south to Florida. Unknown if in Caribbean
Behavior & Notes
This is a calcareous sponge.
Synonyms
Wells et al. 1960