pipe or chimney sponge Rossella fibulata

Rossella fibulata is found in Antarctica at depths from 40 to 460 meters [1,2,4].

The body of R. fibulata is barrel or broadly vase-shaped, colored dark brown to reddish brown and sometimes pink, and up to eighty centimeters high and seventy centimeters in diameter [2].



The body wall of Rossella fibulata is up to eight centimeters thick at the base and the oscule is up to fifty centimeters in diameter and thin-rimmed with a fringe of spicules [2].



This photo of Rossella fibulata was taken at 40 meters depth at Couloir Cliffs in Granite Harbor [4].

Smaller specimens of R. fibulata are smooth or have only a few small conules; larger specimens have many large conules on the lower body up to six centimeters in height and diameter without spicule tufts [2].

1: Hooper, JNA & Wiedenmayer, F. Porifera. IN: Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 12. Wells, A, ed. Melbourne : CSIRO Australia, 1994; 2: Antarctic Hexactinellida. Dagmar Barthel & Ole S. Tendal. Champaign, Ill. : Koeltz Scientific Books, 1994. Theses Zoologicae, Volume 23. Synopses of the Antarctic Benthos, Volume 6; 4: Norbert Wu, personal communication, 1999

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Norbert Wu, Canadian Museum of Nature (Kathleen Conlan), & Jim Mastro. Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Norbert Wu, Canadian Museum of Nature (Kathleen Conlan), & Jim Mastro. Norbert Wu no longer grants permission for uncompensated use of his photos under any circumstances whatsoever; want more info?