Tennis Ball Sponge

Craniella villosa

Tennis Ball Sponge

Craniella villosa

Other Common Names
Gray puffball sponge

Rocky Coast

Other Common Names

Gray puffball sponge

At the Aquarium

Rocky Coast

Appearance

This sponge has a rounded and grayish exterior with a ridge and holes at the top. It has long spicules that project from the surface. They grow up to 10 inches in diameter.

Habitat

Intertidal and subtidal to depths of at least 80 feet on rocks.

Diet

Filter-feeds on bacteria, tiny particles, and dissolved organic matter

Life History

Sponges can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Asexual reproduction often occurs by budding. For most sponges, there are no separate sexes. An individual is able to produce both eggs and sperm, though they usually produce them at different times. Most sponges broadcast their sperm into the water, which then enters another individual where fertilization will occur. Some sponges release swimming larvae upon hatching but most retain their larvae for some time. Once in the water column, the larva will settle and develop into a juvenile sponge. Some sponges, including those of the Craniella genus, bypass the swimming larval stage all together and instead, the juveniles crawl out from the parent in the shape of a miniature sponge.

IUCN Status

Not Evaluated

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

These sponges provide food to their predators, which include nudibranchs and sea stars

Sponges are thought to have an important role in dissolved organic matter (DOM) cycling. The carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids present in DOM are unavailable to most animals, but sponges are able to take it up and later release particulate organic matter, which other organisms are able to consume.

Deep-sea sponges in the Craniella genus are important habitat builders, providing sponge grounds that support fish and invertebrates.

Alaska to Washington

These sponges may be found in the intertidal zone.

Most sponges are filter feeders. Sponges create a water flow in their bodies by beating tiny hair-like structures called flagella. Water entering the sponge brings oxygen and food and carries away waste. Some sponges also have photosynthetic symbionts.

Citations & Other Resources

Busch, Kathrin, et al. inchesChloroflexi dominate the deep-sea golf ball sponges Craniella zetlandica and Craniella infrequens throughout different life stages.inches Frontiers in Marine Science 7 (2020): 674.
Folkers, Mainah, and Titus Rombouts. inchesSponges revealed: a synthesis of their overlooked ecological functions within aquatic ecosystems.inches YOUMARES (2020): 181-193.
Harbo, Rick M. Whelks to Whales: Coastal Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest. Madeira Park, B.C., Harbour Pub, 2011.
Lambe, L.M. (1893 [1894]). Sponges from the Pacific coast of Canada. Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada. 11 (4): 25-43, pls II-IV.

Tennis Ball Sponge

Tennis Ball Sponge

Other Common Names

At the Aquarium

Appearance

Habitat

Diet

Life History

IUCN Status

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Citations & Other Resources

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