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| sponges text index | photo index |
| Phylum Porifera |
| Rambutan
sponge Tethya robusta* Family Tethyidae updated Oct 2016 Where seen? This small colourful furry ball-shaped sponge resembles a local fruit, the rambutan! The sponge is sometimes seen on coral rubble and rocky shores. Sometimes, a few are seen near one another. Features: Small (2-5cm in diameter), spherical covered with short, fine filaments. The sponge may also have many raised polygonal bumps. It may be anchored to the surface with stringy tissues that look like melted cheese. Tiny blobs may appear at the tips of the filaments. These are buds that drop off to develop into new Rambutan sponges. Budding is a common reproduction method in Tethya species. Colours include orange, yellow, red, beige and white. Looks similar to the Golf ball sponge which has a denser coat of finer spines without bulbous tips and which never have stringy tissues to anchor the sponge to the surface. |
 Tuas, Apr 04  Changi, Jan 12 |
 Sometimes with raised polygonal bumps. |
 Pasir Ris, Jan 09 |
 Filaments anchor or root the sponge to a hard surface. |
 Pulau Semakau, Dec 08 |
 Buds on ends of stalks may develop into new sponges. |
 Inside of the sponge. Changi, Jan 12 |
 Sembawang, Jan 12 |
*Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.
| Rambutan sponges on Singapore shores |
| Photos of Rambutan sponges for free download from wildsingapore flickr |
| Distribution in Singapore on this wildsingapore flickr map |
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Links
References
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