Biodiversity & Conservation

Golf ball sponge - Tethya aurantium

Tethya aurantium

Image Robin Harvey - Tethya aurantium, the golf ball sponge. Image width ca XX cm.
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Distribution map

Tethya aurantium recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Tethya aurantium is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Porifera Sponges
Class Demospongiae
Authority (Pallas, 1766)
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Recorded from south-west England, the west coast of Wales, western Scotland and most Irish coasts, excluding the east.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Tethya aurantium grows singly or in colonies on rocks, boulders and stones in the shallow sublittoral to depths of 130 m. It is often found on rocks in kelp forests.
Text page icon Description Tethya aurantium is a spherical sponge up to 10 cm in diameter. It has the appearance of a small orange and may have rooting processes. The surface is 'warty' (tuberculate). The 'warts' (tubercles) are separated by contractile pore-bearing grooves. Sometimes buds are present, found on short stalks on top of these tubercles. When contracted, Tethya aurantium can appear smooth and evenly marked by striations. The striations can expand into grooves or channels, leaving 'islands of tissue'. Between these 'islands' the profile can be rounded or flat. There is usually one large oscule found opposite the attachment point.
Identifying features
  • Spherical/hemispherical.
  • Usually yellow or orange.
  • Up to 10 cm diameter.
  • Surface tuberculate or warty.
  • Often covered by a layer of silt.
  • Usually one large and distinct apical osculum.
  • The sphere has a short basal stalk which grows from a root-like mass.
Additional information icon Additional information Stalked reproductive buds are produced between July and September (van Soest et al., 2000).

This review can be cited as follows:

Judith Oakley 2008. Tethya aurantium. Golf ball sponge. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 04/02/2012]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=4450>