Species Overview

Ailochroia thiona (de Laubenfels, 1930).

SPONGE:

Shape: encrusting
Size_thickness: to 4 cm
Color_Alive: Bright yellow
Color_Dry: purple then black
Note: color changes on drying

HABITAT:

Benthic Region: Marine: Intertidal
Distribution: Southern California

Surface:

Texture: superficially smooth with irregular conules from 0.5 mm to 10 cm high

Spongin:

Type: Primary
Diameter: 45 -- 150 µ
Core: Pith diameter 28 -- 110 µm

Skeleton:

Composition: Spongin
Architecture: Spongin fibers anastomose to form a loose reticulation in a stiff jelly-like choanosome permeated by canals