Spheciospongia vesparium

{{Short description|Species of sponge}} {{Speciesbox | name = Loggerhead Sponge' | taxon = Spheciospongia vesparium | authority = Lamarck, 1815<ref name=WoRMS>{{cite WoRMS |author=van Soest, Rob |year=2018 |title=''Spheciospongia vesparium'' (Lamarck, 1815) |id=170566 |accessdate=6 October 2018 }}</ref> | synonyms = {{hidden begin|title = List}} *''Alcyonium vesparium'' Lamarck, 1815 *''Cliona cribrosa'' (Schmidt, 1870) *''Heterocliona cribraria'' Verrill, 1907 *''Hymeniacidon pulvinatus'' Bowerbank, 1872 *''Papillina cribrosa'' Schmidt, 1870 *''Poterion atlantica'' George & Wilson, 1919 *''Prianos tierneyi'' de Laubenfels, 1953 *''Pseudosuberites melanos'' Laubenfels, 1934 *''Spheciospongia othello'' de Laubenfels, 1950 *''Spheciospongia vesparia'' [lapsus] *''Spirastrella andrewsi'' George & Wilson, 1919 *''Spirastrella pulvinata'' (Bowerbank, 1872) *''Spongia dysoni'' Carter, 1882 *''Thalysias vesparia'' (Lamarck, 1814) {{hidden end}} | synonyms_ref = <ref name=WoRMS/>

}}

'''''Spheciospongia vesparium''''', commonly known as the '''loggerhead sponge''',<ref name=MSIP/> is a species of sea sponge belonging to the family Clionaidae. While it is highly toxic to many fish, this sponge is eaten by certain angelfish and is known to form part of the diet of the hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'').

==Description== This massive sponge has varying forms in different locations. One common form is barrel-shaped or cake-shaped with a flattened top, but it may also be roughly globular or amorphous. The texture is firm, tough and dense. The surface is broadly undulating and rough, with a mixture of large and small osculi surrounded by groups of fine pores, each {{convert|1|to|2|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} in diameter. The color of the sponge both inside and out is purplish, gray or brownish-black, and the surface is often partly obscured by sediment or by algae growing on it.<ref name=MSIP>{{cite web |url=http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=caribbean_diving_guide&id=471 |title=Loggerhead sponge (''Spheciospongia vesparium'') |author1=De Kluijver, M. |author2=Gijswijt, G. |author3=de Leon, R. |author4=da Cunda, I. |work=Interactive Guide to Caribbean Diving |publisher=Marine Species Identification Portal |accessdate=6 October 2018}}</ref><ref name=SeaLifeBase/>

==Distribution and habitat== This sponge is native to the Caribbean Sea and around the coasts of the Bahamas and Florida. It occurs on patch reefs and in lagoons; when growing on soft sediment it often has a wider and deeper base than when growing on rock.<ref name=MSIP/> Its depth range is {{convert|5|to|15|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name=SeaLifeBase/>

==Ecology== Although it is toxic to many vertebrates, some fish have been observed to feed on this sponge, a fact confirmed by fragments of the sponge being found in their guts; these fish include the queen angelfish (''Holacanthus ciliaris''), the rock beauty (''Holacanthus tricolor'') and the French angelfish (''Pomacanthus paru''). Other predators feeding on the sponge include the polychaete worm ''Branchiosyllis oculata'', and the red cushion sea star (''Oreaster reticulatus'').<ref name=Carballo>{{cite book|author1=Carballo, José Luis |author2=Bell, James J.|title=Climate Change, Ocean Acidification and Sponges: Impacts Across Multiple Levels of Organization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=asY7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA336 |year=2017 |publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-59008-0 |pages=336–337}}</ref> It is also preyed upon by the hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'').<ref name="ScienceSpongi">{{cite journal | last =Meylan | first =Anne | title =Spongivory in Hawksbill Turtles: A Diet of Glass | journal =Science | volume =239 | issue =4838| pages =393–395 | publisher =American Association for the Advancement of Science | year =1988 | doi = 10.1126/science.239.4838.393 | pmid =17836872 | jstor=1700236| bibcode =1988Sci...239..393M | s2cid =22971831 }}</ref>

The tunnels and cavities inside the sponge are home to a wide array of invertebrates.<ref name=SeaLifeBase>{{cite web |url=https://www.sealifebase.ca/summary/Spheciospongia-vesparium.html |title=''Spheciospongia vesparium'' (Lamarck, 1815)|publisher=SeaLifeBase |accessdate=6 October 2018}}</ref> Being a suspension feeder, this sponge has been found to be helpful in controlling harmful blooms of cyanobacteria; sites in Florida Bay with an abundance of loggerhead sponges were found to have few or no blooms whereas similar sites with few sponges had long-lasting, dense blooms.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Wall, Chuck C. |author2=Rodgers, Brooke S. |author3=Gobler, Christopher J. |author4=Peterson, Bradley James |year=2012 |title=Responses of loggerhead sponges ''Spechiospongia vesparium'' during harmful cyanobacterial blooms in a sub-tropical lagoon |journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series |volume=451 |pages=31–43 |doi=10.3354/meps09537 |bibcode=2012MEPS..451...31W |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Hadromerida Category:Sponges of the Atlantic Ocean Category:Fauna of the Caribbean Category:Fauna of the Dominican Republic Category:Sponges of Brazil Category:Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Category:Sponges described in 1815