Pink
puff ball sponge
Oceanapia sagittaria*
Family Phloeodictyidae
updated Oct 2019
Where
seen? This small pink puff is sometimes seen on some of our shores among
coral rubble. It's just the tip of an enormous buried sponge!
Features: Small delicate
prickly ball about 1-2cm in diameter, on a short conical stem (called
the capitate structure). The ball has fine sheets between the prickles.
Seen singly but sometimes a few seen near one another growing on coral
rubble. This puffy fluff is just a tiny part of the sponge. The bulk
of the sponge is actually buried! The main sponge is bulbous and spherical.
Colour usually a deep maroon to bright pink.
The capitate structure is where the water is 'exhaled' from the sponge,
and also where propagules (new sponges) are dispersed. |
Pulau Semakau,
May 11 |
Pulau Hantu,
Feb 08 |
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*Species are difficult
to positively identify without dissection and examination of internal parts.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of
display.
Pink
puff ball sponges on Singapore shores |
Other sightings on Singapore shores |
Sentosa Tg Rimau, Apr 21
Photo shared by Marcus Ng on facebook. |
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Lazarus Island, Feb 21
Photo shared by Richard Kuah on facebook. |
Pulau Jong, Jun 17
Photo shared by Liz Lim on facebook. |
Terumbu Semakau,
Dec 15
Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on his blog. |
Pulau Salu, Apr 21
Photo shared by Marcus Ng on facebook. |
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Links
References
- Lim Swee
Cheng, Nicole de Voogd and Tan Koh Siang. 2008. A
Guide to Sponges of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre.
173pp.
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