Largest sponge
Last updated: June 2, 2018 at 14:35 pm
Subfamily Lanuginellinae — A sponge filmed by a NOAA ROV in Hawaii’s Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was over 3.5 m (11.5 ft) long and 2.0 m (6.6 ft) wide. The colony was found at a depth of 2,134 m (7,000 ft) in 2015.
Specimens of the barrel sponge (Xestospongia muta) in the Caribbean measure up to 2.4 m (8 ft) tall and 2.4 m (8 ft) across.
Wagner, D. & Kelley, C.D. Mar Biodiv (2017) 47: 367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0508-z
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Jeffrey Gallant is the Editor-in-Chief and Records Keeper of the Diving Almanac. He is also a contributing editor of DIVER Magazine, and the scientific director of the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group (GEERG). Jeffrey started diving in 1982.
