Sponge Identification?

[Aleksandr]

Can anyone identify what this black sponge is which came on a piece of 'shroom rock? There are several patches of it on the rock and it has not yet spread to other rocks, or even appeared to grow in the month that I have had it. Although you can't tell from this picture there are a bunch of exhalant tubes at random spots on the various sponges. The thing also seems to get covered in a stringy mucous which I generally just gently blow off with a pipette.

Unknown Black Sponge

Thanks in advance from a reefs.org newbie...
Aleks

 

[Anonymous]

Well, it looks like a sponge to me, unfortunatly most people can't tell you what type of sponge you have. I have seen those black ones in my tanks from time to time.

 

[sfla_pb]

Looks like an encrusting sponge. See Chondrilla or chicken liver sponge. It comes in brown,black and orange colors. It can encrust corals but is safe for a reef tank if this is your critter. This is what it looks like to me but I am not an expert, just a flunky. This quote is from research called Epizoism: a new threat to coral health in caribbean reefs-
"Another sponge, Chondrilla cf. nucula, apparently is behaving the same way. It starts out at some dead spot of a coral colony, but proceeds from there to overgrow living coral surface. At present it does not seem to be a threat to reef health though, since only three cases were found in Carrie Bow Reef, and none, so far, in Florida. One of these, however, had almost completely enveloped a large colony of Diploria strigosa (Fig. 9).
Fig. 9. Another sponge, Chondrilla cf. nucula, in the process of overgrowing a large colony of Diploria strigosa. Although the sponge will kill living coral surface, polyps in the immediate vicinity appear undisturbed." So if it starts covering a coral rip that part off otherwise its safe. I have several pieces in my tanks and they like light. Mine are from Florida and are grayish black.

http://www.nhm.org/guana/bvi-invt/bvi-surv/images/spon-i01/ch-nu.htm

http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/pgallery/pgflower/habitats/habitats_14.html

 

[newspaperpopcorn]

i think its tar