Stelletta kallitetilla

Stelletta kallitetilla is a species of demosponge belonging to the family Ancorinidae. It is native to the tropical western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It was first described in 1936 by the American zoologist Max Walker de Laubenfels as Myriastra kallitetilla but was later transferred to the genus Stelletta.[1]

Stelletta kallitetilla
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Demospongiae
Order: Tetractinellida
Family: Ancorinidae
Genus: Stelletta
Species:
S. kallitetilla
Binomial name
Stelletta kallitetilla
Synonyms[1]
  • Myriastra kallitetilla de Laubenfels, 1936

Description

Stelletta kallitetilla is a massive sponge that is usually green or yellow, the colour varying from light yellowish-green to a dark shade of green. The consistency of the sponge is soft but tough, and it often has an osculum at the top. The surface is usually nodular, but may be smooth or bristly, and often has fouling organisms growing on it.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Stelletta kallitetilla is native to the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It grows at depths down to about 38 m (125 ft). [3] It tends to grow in seagrass meadows and on the stilt roots of mangroves.[2]

Ecology

Stelletta kallitetilla often harbours the commensal amphipod Colomastix janiceae, as well as another amphipod, Leucothoe spinicarpa, in the tubes, holes and crevices of the sponge; in a study off southeastern Florida and the Florida Keys, all the ten individual sponges examined contained the amphipods living inside.[4]

References
  1. van Soest, Rob (2015). "Stelletta kallitetilla (de Laubenfels, 1936)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  2. "Stelletta kallitetilla". The Sponge Guide: a picture guide to Caribbean sponges. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  3. "Stelletta kallitetilla (de Laubenfels, 1936)". SeaLifeBase. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  4. Crustacean Society. Summer Meeting (2002). Modern Approaches to the Study of Crustacea. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 105–109. ISBN 978-0-306-47366-1.
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