Latticed Sponge, Aplysina clathrata
Latticed Sponge, Aplysina clathrata. Underwater photographs taken in Bahía de Banderas, Puerta Vallarta, Jalisco, July 2026. Photographs and identifications courtesy of Greg Timms, youtube.com/@CoralmasterdivesPuertoVallarta/videos.
Phylogeny: The Latticed Sponge, Aplysina clathrata (Cruz-Barraza, Carballo, Rocha-Olivares, Ehrlich & Hog, 2012), is a member of the Aplysinidae Family of Sponges. The Aplysina Genus is one of three genera in the Aplysinidae Family, and the are forty-three species in the Aplysina Genus. The family name Aplysinidae and the genus name Aplysina come from the Greek words meaning “without a shield”. This refers to the sponge lacking the silicate or calcium carbonate spicules that protect sponges in other families. The species name clathrata comes from the Latin words meaning “latticed”, “grated”, or “caged”. This refers to the shape of the open latticework of anastomosed tubes found in this species. They are known in Mexico as Esponja Entramada.
Morphology: Latticed Sponges form semi-spherical mounds, or combine into massive networks reaching 40 cm (16 inches) in diameter and up to 10 cm (3.9 inches) in height. Their surface displays rounded lobules that are 2.0 to 5.0 mm in diameter and 3.0 mm to 9.0 mm in height. They sometimes fuse into lobes reaching 1.5 cm in length. The lobules widen distally. Relatively large oscules are distributed over the surface, mainly between lobes. The oscules are 2.0 mm to 4.0 mm in diameter. Like other species in this genus, Latticed Sponges have a skeleton of pithed fibers that form a regular net-work of polygonal meshes without an ectosomal specialized structure. In contrast to other keratose sponges, Aplysina skeletons are mostly made not of spongin, but of alpha-chitin. While living, these sponges may be bright yellow or yellowish- brown, red, violet or pink. They quickly darken when removed from water. Latticed Sponges differ from Gerardo Green’s Sponge Aplysina gerardogreeni, in that they are fused together, while Aplysina gerardogreeni forms individual, side by side, vertical groups. Aplysina clathrata has tubes that are interconnected throughout the surface, forming a lattice-like structure, whereas Aplysina gerardogreeni most often has numerous distinct lobular to tubular projections that rise up from a common basal sponge mass.
Habitat and Distribution: Latticed Sponges are generally found on rocks, in areas with high water flow and scarce sediment deposition. They are most common found at depths between 5 m (16 feet) and 15 m (49 feet), though they extend to, at least 20 m (66 feet). Latticed Sponges are a tropical to sub-tropical Eastern Pacific species. They are ENDEMIC to Mexico, where they range from the Sea of Cortez southward along the mainland coast to Oaxaca.
Diet: Latticed Sponges are filter feeders that pump water through their body wall and filter out plankton and suspended organic matter. The water enters the body through the pores and is expelled through the osculi. In doing so, they filter the water around them and recycle organic matter to higher trophic levels.
Predation: Latticed Sponges rely on bad-tasting or toxic chemical metabolites to deter most generalist predators, they are vulnerable to specialized spongivorous predators. Predation of Latticed Sponges is poorly documented. Other sponges in this family are prey for crabs, fish, shelled gastropods, nudibranchs, lobsters, sea stars, sea turtles, and sea urchins.
Reproduction: The reproduction of Latticed Sponges is not well documented. Most likely, as in other demosponges, reproduction may occur through both sexual and asexual processes, but species-specific details for Aplysina clathrata remain vague.
Ecosystem Interactions: Latticed Sponges contribute to the ecosytem by filtering the water in a localized area and moving organic matter to higher trophic levels. They also have mutualistic relationships with multiple species, whereby the other animals receive a place to live, and the sponge feeds on their waste matter. These symbionts include shrimp, crabs, brittle stars, and small fish.
Human Interactions: Latticed Sponges have no direct impact on human activities. From a conservation perspective they have not been formally evaluated.
Synonyms: None