Florida Gulf ID wanted

[Missdirected]

Don't know what the following is. I found it in about 70ft of water near a wreck. It was sending out puffs of white - I assume it was releasing sperm or something. The very center cluster is what was sending out the puffs. Ignore the snot in the background. I couldn't find this in any of my Paul Humann books. Thanks. MissD.

 

[Rick Murchison]

It's a spawning sponge of some sort.
Sponge IDs are not my forte - but this one is probably in the general grouping of "ball sponge."
Rick

 

[Mafiaman]

It's a spawning sponge of some sort.
Sponge IDs are not my forte - but this one is probably in the general grouping of "ball sponge."
Rick

Rick, are you sure that's not a Tunicate? Maybe in the Leptoclinides family, with a street name of Sea Squirt? Maybe?

 

[Rick Murchison]

Rick, are you sure that's not a Tunicate? Maybe in the Leptoclinides family, with a street name of Sea Squirt? Maybe?

Pretty sure... of course there's a possibility, however unlikely, that I'm... wrong (gasp!) . But I'm pretty sure it's a sponge. I've never seen tunicates dump clouds of gametes into the water, either.
Edit: Leptoclinides... very interesting... there's a sponge and there's an ascidian (tunicate)... wonder if they have the same name because they look alike?
Obviously this is going to require on-site verification.
Where, exactly, is this critter?
Rick

 

[MB]

Hey, with the cold front that's blasting through here, I think its a collection of snow.

OTOH, if it was spawning, I hope the divers in the area were taking the appropriate protections!

 

[LeslieH]

Er, I'd go with tunicate although I wouldn't be so bold as to specify a genus. That pattern of stellate incurrent siphon openings & a few large excurrent openings is common. Maybe family Didemnidae. Take a look at this:
http://www.ascidians.com/families/didemnidae/Didemnid_greenstar/didemnidgreenstar1.htm

 

[tedj01]

Hey, with the cold front that's blasting through here, I think its a collection of snow.

OTOH, if it was spawning, I hope the divers in the area were taking the appropriate protections!

Suprised at SB Staff using such a nasty, foul, disgusting 4-letter word. Tsk Tsk! Should be against TOS!

 

[MB]

Suprised at SB Staff using such a nasty, foul, disgusting 4-letter word. Tsk Tsk! Should be against TOS!

My bad. I know the rules. I'll be more careful when referring to c**d and s**w!

 

[CBulla]

Bad MB - shame on you for mentioning bad northern things while this far south!

Perhaps it was a smoking sponge.....

 

[DennisW]

You guys could be in VA and going out to freeze in the low 20's. BBBBBRRRRRR!!!!

I think it's a spawning sponge as well.