> [!summary]- Classification **Kingdom**:: Animals **Phylum**:: Porifera **Subphylum**:: **Superclass**:: **Class**:: Demospongiae **Subclass**:: **Superorder**:: **Order**:: Clionaida **Suborder**:: **Superfamily**:: **Family**:: Spirastrellidae **Subfamily**:: **Genus**:: Spirastrella **Species**:: S. cunctatrix **Vernacular**:: Orange encrusting sponge ## Photos  *[128 - 2023-05-17 - Pirate des Caraïbes - Epidaurus - Greece](128%20-%202023-05-17%20-%20Pirate%20des%20Caraïbes%20-%20Epidaurus%20-%20Greece.md) - This picture was taken at ~35m deep, on a rope, under an [overhang](Overhang.md). That's why I think of S. cunctatrix instead of [Crambe crambe - Orange-red encrusting sponge](Crambe%20crambe%20-%20Orange-red%20encrusting%20sponge.md). I liked the fact that nature can always find a way to colonize human constructions, here a rope from a fishnet.*  *[122 - 2023-05-14 - Aspo faro - Epidaurus - Greece](122%20-%202023-05-14%20-%20Aspo%20faro%20-%20Epidaurus%20-%20Greece.md) - Unfortunately the picture is blurry (first dive of the journey, I didn't tuned my camera), but the construction is interesting. Took under an overhang.* ## Notes Nearly the same as [Crambe crambe - Orange-red encrusting sponge](Crambe%20crambe%20-%20Orange-red%20encrusting%20sponge.md), with the same color (C. crambe tends more to redish shades), same canalicules towards osculum shapes... The differences lie in their exposure to light. S. cunctatrix is [sciaphyle](Sciaphyle.md), thus we gona find it under [overhangs](Overhang.md), in caves and heavily shaded areas. Certainly, to identify with the best confidence, we need to watch the spicules under the microscope. ## References - https://doris.ffessm.fr/Especes/Spirastrella-cunctatrix-Eponge-encroutante-orange-3416/(rOffset)/4 - [Découvrir la vie sous-marine - Méditerranée - Steven Weinberg](Découvrir%20la%20vie%20sous-marine%20-%20Méditerranée%20-%20Steven%20Weinberg.md) p130-131