Halichondrida, Halichondriidae
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| Common name(s): | None. |
| Growth Form: | Semi-buried irregular mass with numerous fingerlike projections (fistules) and oscular chimneys. Typically covered with sediment and algae. |
| Surface: | Covered with blind finger-like projections (fistules), <5 mm wide and 1-2 cm long. |
| Color: | Bright yellow outside; paler inside. |
| Consistency: | Compressible, soft. |
| Exudate: | None. |
| Oscules: | Small (<5 mm wide), on top of oscular chimneys, 1 cm wide, 2-3 cm high. |
| Skeletal Components (Spicules, Fibers): | Straight rods with 2 pointed ends (oxea) in two size classes: 500-550 x 12-13 μm and 150-260 x 5-8 μm. |
| Skeletal Architecture: | Exterior: a few spicules strewn tangentially over the surface. Interior: spicule tracts arranged in a criss-cross fashion with spicules strewn between them. Towards the surface the spicule tracts are radially oriented. |
| Ecology: | On mud bottoms with algae in brackish water. |
| Distribution: | Indian River, Florida, and North Carolina. |
| Notes: | Unlike other Halichondria species, the ectosomal skeleton is poorly developed, and the skin at the surface is not detachable. |
| References: | de Laubenfels (1947), Diaz et al. (1993), van Soest (2009). |