Prosuberites sp.

Sponges

Prosuberites sp. is a thin (-2 mm thick) encrusting sponge, which was first collected in San Francisco Bay in 1953.  It occurs in the low or very low intertidal of central California bays, and is gold, hazel, yellow-brown, or olive brown in color.  It has been considered an introduction from the East Coast, probably with Eastern Oysters.  However, we have been unable to match it with East Coast species of Prosuberites (some now in the genus Terpios or Protosuberites), so we consider it a species of unknown origin, possibly introduced with oysters or hull fouling.  The sponge in the photo is Prosuberites laughlini from Panama.