Details
Euplectella aspergillum
The Venus flower basket is a glass sponge of deep Indian and Pacific waters. It is a solitary filter-feeder fixed to the seafloor.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It lives attached to deep ocean bottoms. Moderate water flow brings the fine organic particles needed for growth.
Height is about 10-30 cm and weight about 20-200 g. Silica spicules form a delicate white lattice, giving the body a woven tubular shape.
It is solitary and treated in the data as diurnal. It does not roam; instead, water passes through the body, bringing oxygen and food.
It is a filter-feeder, capturing tiny organic particles and microbes from seawater. Flowing water is essential to its feeding method.
Like other sponges, it reproduces through released gametes or larvae. Larvae drift before settling on suitable hard substrate.
Its conservation status is LC. The intricate skeleton gives the species its common name, Venus flower basket.
