black sea red data book - Department of Biology

Halichondria panicea (Pallas, 1766)
Synonyms: Spongia panicea Pallas, 1766; Pellina semitubulosa Czerniavsky, 1880;
Pellina longispicula Czerniavsky, 1880; Halichondria grossa
Swartschewsky, 1905.
Common names: None.
Taxonomic description. An encrusting sponge provided with numerous, low upright
tubules (H=2-5 cm) each terminating in an oscule (A =5-6 mm), dermal skeleton a
regular network of multispicular tracts. Colour orange-yellow to greenish.
IUCN Status
World level:
Black Sea Regional level:
Subregion level: VU
Distribution, Habitat types, Critical habitats, Limiting factors. A rock species of
the superior infralittoral, including artificial dams; epibiont on mussels; eurybathic, at
depths of two up to 65 m, but rare below 10 m.
Biology. Plenty of algae inhabit the sponge body, some ending up as food, other
symbiontic and giving rise to the external colour. Feeds on organic particles which
enter with the water current through the pores and through the oscula. An
hermaphrodite, with sexual elements embedded in the mesenchyme. Ovules
fecundated on the spot, the first phases of the larval development take place in the
parenchyma of the mother.
Population trends. Species frequently cited during the 1960s-70s in the mussel
biocoenosis living on rocks along the Constantsa and Agigea coasts, but in rather low
numbers.
Order CORNACUSPONGIDA
Family HALICHONDRIIDAE
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