Cliona sp.
Kopuputai
Invertebrate
Porifera
Demospongiae
Clionaidae
This sponge is not often seen. It bores into the shells of molluscs and the most commonly seen evidence of it are the holes it makes in the shell. If seen in the shell when alive, it looks like yellow dots over the surface of the shell. Some species form a yellow mat in the subtidal zone.
Bores into the shells of molluscs (using acids) in the low intertidal to subtidal. May be found living freely in the subtidal.
Filter feeder on particles and plankton in the water.
Releases eggs anr sperm into the water to produce a planktonic larval stage.
Photo Credit: Rod Morris. Photos can be purchased from https://www.rodmorris.co.nz/