Sclerothamnus sp. indet.

Fassbender, Nico, Stefanoudis, Paris V, Filander, Zoleka Nontlantla, Gendron, Gilberte, Mah, Christopher L, Mattio, Lydiane, Mortimer, Jeanne A, Moura, Carlos J, Samaai, Toufiek, Samimi-Namin, Kaveh, Wagner, Daniel, Walton, Rowana & Woodall, Lucy C, 2021, Reef benthos of Seychelles - A field guide, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 65970-65970 : 65970

Sclerothamnus sp. indet.

Materials

Type status: Other material. Taxon: scientificName: Sclerothamnus sp.; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Porifera; class: Hexactinellida; order: Sceptrulophora; family: Tretodictyidae; genus: Sclerothamnus; scientificNameAuthorship: Marshall, 1875; Location: waterBody: Indian Ocean; country: Seychelles; locality: Aldabra N 1, Aldabra W 1, Astove W 1, Desroches S 1 ; minimumDepthInMeters: 130.3 m; maximumDepthInMeters: 250 m; locationRemarks: First Descent : Seychelles Expedition ; Identification : identifiedBy: Nico Fassbender , Toufiek Samaai , Paris Stefanoudis ; dateIdentified: 2019, 2020; identificationRemarks: identified only from imagery; Event : samplingProtocol: Submersible OR Remotely Operated Vehicle OR SCUBA; Record Level: basisOfRecord: Human observation

Notes

Branching sponge that can appear twig-like or fan-like in larger individuals due to its heavily branched appearance. Typically between 25 to 30 cm in height, although individuals can grow> 50 cm. Raised oscules that resemble corallites in hard corals. Colour light yellow. Somewhat resembles hard corals if not for the depth where it is found. (Fig. 183).