Haliclona cf fascigera (Hentschel, 1912)

In spite of the different colors, these platelike sponges that ramify into filaments look like they could all be the same species. There are postings on iNaturalist similar to these identified as Haliclona fascigera. There are other iNaturalist posts showing a very different growth form for H. fascigera. While some sponges are known to be very plastic in their growth forms, I will have to call the colonies observed at Kwajalein tentative until I get more evidence othewise. These are found on the seaward slope at depths exceeding about 45m.

Haliclona sp. 4 growing around a small Niphates olemda.

Those below were below 45m on the seaward reef.

Created 1 June 2019
Updated 17 March 2024

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