Pipe Sponge (10”)

Pipe sponge is a golden or orange-brown color with a conulose surface. The animal is abundant in the Caribbean, where it is commonly found in reefs of open water areas.

This sponge consists of one or more yellow tube-like structures that arise from a closed base and are sessle. The sponge has wide thin walls with ridged surfaces.  Each tube is rarely over 30 centimetres (12 in) in clear water but can reach 50 centimetres (20 in) in turbid-zone reefs. A. fistularisdoes not develop rope-like projections around its tubes, although it may show some branching tendrils.   A. fistularis does not have a silicate skeletal structure like most sponges, and was used as a bath sponge before the invention of synthetic sponges.