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| sponges text index | photo index |
| Phylum Porifera |
| Black
prickly sponge Echinodictyum conulosum* Family Raspailiidae updated Oct 2016 Where seen? This black prickly sponge is sometimes seen on our Northern shores. Features: A small prickly bushy shape made up of lobes with many large cavities. Texture with many prickly spikes. The skeleton is made up of a large proportion of silica to spongin and it has thick, robust bundles of spicules (hard, spiky bits). Holes scattered irregularly on the surface with a membranous lip which is more obvious when the sponge is submerged. Colour is black with a purple tinge. Another black encrusting sponge is Iotrochota baculifera and Iotrochota purpurea. Sometimes confused with Black bath sponges (Family Spongiidae) which are usually globular dome-shaped or loaf-shaped. |
 Pulau Ubin, Dec 09  |
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 East Coast Park, Aug 09 |
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 Pulau Sekudu, May 12  |
 Changi, Jul 12  |
 Changi, Apr 12  |
*Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.
| Black prickly sponges on Singapore shores |
| Photos of Black prickly 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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