Spongia officinalis
Species of sponge / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Spongia officinalis, better known as a variety of bath sponge, is a commercially used sea sponge.[2] Individuals grow in large lobes with small openings and are formed by a mesh of primary and secondary fibers.[3][2] It is light grey to black in color.[3] It is found throughout the Mediterranean Sea up to 100 meters deep on rocky or sandy surfaces.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Spongia officinalis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Porifera |
Class: | Demospongiae |
Order: | Dictyoceratida |
Family: | Spongiidae |
Genus: | Spongia |
Species: | S. officinalis |
Binomial name | |
Spongia officinalis | |
Synonyms | |
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Spongia officinalis can reproduce both asexually, through budding or fragmentation, or sexually.[8] Individuals can be dioecious or sequential hermaphrodites.[8] The free-swimming larvae are lecithotrophic and grow slowly after attaching to a benthic surface.[8][9][10]
Humans use and interact with S. officinalis in a variety of ways. Harvested sponges have been used throughout history for many purposes, including washing and painting.[2] Over-harvesting and sponge disease have led to a decrease in population.[2][3][11] Sponge fishing practices have slowly changed over time as new technology has developed and sponge farming is now in use to decrease stress on wild S. officinalis populations.[3][11] Sponge farming is also recommended as a solution to reducing marine organic pollution, especially from fish farms.[3][2][12][13]