A guide to the deep-water sponges of - NMFS Scientific Publications ...

130 Professional Paper NMFS 12
109. Haliclona tenuiderma (Lundbeck, 1902)
Description. This sponge is cushion-shaped with a
finely hispid surface. Consistency is very delicate; only
slightly elastic and easily torn. Circular oscula are slightly
elevated from the surface and not visible on collected
specimens. Height is to 15 cm and width to 8 cm. Color
in life is light grey to creamy white.
Skeletal structure. Choanosomal paucispicular tracts
are connected by single spicules and short tracts; oxeas
(330–430 × 13–15 µm).
Zoogeographic range. Widespread but rare. In Alaska
– central Aleutian Islands. Elsewhere – North Pacific
Ocean (Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan), Arctic Ocean
(Barents Sea and Greenland Sea), and North Atlantic
Ocean.
Habitat. In Alaska – attached to bedrock, boulders,
and mudstone at depths between 974 and 1706 m.
Elsewhere – reported at depths between 0 and 15 m
(Barents Sea) and at a depth of 887 m (North Atlantic
Ocean).
Photos. 1) Fragments of preserved (frozen then ethanol)
specimen collected at a depth of 1352 m in the
central Aleutian Islands. Grid marks are 1 cm 2 . 2) Same
specimen as in photo 1 in situ. 3) Close-up view of same
specimen as in photo 2 and 3.