Agelas tubulata
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| Agelas tubulata | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Porifera |
| Class: | Demospongiae |
| Order: | Agelasida |
| Family: | Agelasidae |
| Genus: | Agelas |
| Species: | A. tubulata |
| Binomial name | |
| Agelas tubulata | |
Agelas tubulata is a species of demosponge. It is tube-shaped or vase-shaped and variable in colour. It is found in the Caribbean area and along the coasts of Brazil at depths of between about 70 and 90 m (230 and 300 ft). It was first described by Lehnert & Rob van Soest in 1996, the type location being the Greater Antilles.[1]
Agelas tubulata is quite variable in shape and colouring. It usually takes the form of a group of vases or tubes, sometimes fused together, growing directly from a narrow base; it may be tan, orange or pinkish on the outside and orangeish-yellow to orange on the inside.[2] The surface is usually smooth. The spicules are acanthostyles. It resembles Agelas conifera, but that species has a narrower base and some of the tubes branch from the sides of other tubes, sometimes forming antler- or club-shapes. Large solitary specimens of A. tubulata may be barrel-shaped and have deep recesses in the walls; they may resemble Agelas cerebrum, but that species has more regularly arranged recesses with orifices in between.[3] The consistency of this sponge is elastic and compressible and zoanthids are sometimes found growing on the walls. The type specimen was yellowish-orange, 20 cm (8 in) high with a diameter of 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 in).[4] Larger specimens may be 40 to 60 cm (16 to 24 in) in diameter with tubes 3 to 6 cm (1.2 to 2.4 in) across and 20 to 40 cm (8 to 16 in) long.[2]