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Dieren en planten

Invertebrates   Sponges   Boring sponge   Bowerbank's Halichondria   Breadcrumb sponge   

Bowerbank's Halichondria

size:

0.5 centimeters thick and maximum 10 centimeters high

color:

white-yellow, beige to brown-gray

food:

phytoplankton and organic waste

enemies:

sea lemon (Archidoris pseudoargus )

reproduction:

sexual and asexual

  • Dut: Sliertige broodspons
  • Lat: Halichondria bowerbanki
  • Eng: Bowerbank's Halichondria, common sponge, Crumb-of-bread sponge
  • Ger: Brotkrummenschwamm
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Halichondria bowerbanki, Michel Otten

Bowerbank's Halichondria

Bowerbank's Halichondria is easy to confuse with the breadcrumb sponge. Older specimen have long thin, stringy branches which emerge from a thin crust. Young specimen lack these stringy branches. Since the Delta Works were built, Bowerbank's Halichondria is found more often than the breadcrumb sponge. It used to be the other way around. But this sponge is more resistant to mud. Bowerbank's Halichondria is also known as crumb-of-bread sponge or the common sponge.

  • Distribution and habitat

    The Bowerbank's Halichondria can be found in the North Sea and Zeeuws delta region. This sponge is very resistant to mud and only needs a small surface of hard underground to grow. It grows down to 60 meters deep.