Suberites domuncula
Hermit sponge with Paguristes sp.
The Hermit sponge ( Suberites domuncula ) is a species of sponges and belongs to the class of Horn siliceous sponges.
Features
The Hermit sponge is elongated to approximately spherical colonies, which can be up to 20 cm tall. Most exist only one or a few large Ausstromöffnungen. The color of the smooth surface is usually orange - red, but also yellow or brown and often blue to purple.
Occurrence
The range extends from the west coast of Britain and Ireland to the south to the Mediterranean. The sponge very often growing on hermit crabs of the genus Paguristes populated snail shells of muddy sand bottoms. It is also found in seagrass meadows of the genus Zostera and at docks. Rarely, it occurs on rocks of the deeper hard floors.
Ecology
The sponge is often a facultative symbiosis with hermit crabs of the genus Paguristes. Larvae and gemmules of the sponge settle on populated of the crabs snail shells and develop into adult sponges. The sponge obtained by mobility and improves its nutritional situation. The hermit crab, however, is protected by the sponge and must not shedding of looking for a new, larger home. The cave dwelling for the hermit crab is further expanded in terms of the snail shell.
Superficial columns are often colonized by the amphipod Tritaeta gibbosa.