Breadcrumb Sponge
The breadcrumb sponge (Halichondria panicea) is a common, crusty, green or yellow sponge on rocky shores and in harbors of the North Atlantic, with an odor that is often described as unpleasant.
The breadcrumb sponge (Halichondria panicea) is a common, crusty, green or yellow sponge on rocky shores and in harbors of the North Atlantic, with an odor that is often described as unpleasant.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Breadcrumb Sponge in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Metazoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Crumbly Crust
It forms thick cushions with chimney-like openings, and the texture is crumbly like bread. It filters bacteria and small particles and can live in a wide range of conditions.
A Source of an Anti-Cancer Drug
A relative in Japan, Halichondria okadai, gave a complex molecule called halichondrin B. A simplified synthetic version, eribulin, is used to treat advanced breast cancer. See Cancer.
Home to Other Animals
Small animals live within the sponge. See Bath Sponge.
Breadcrumb Sponge at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Halichondria panicea |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Porifera |
| Class | Demospongiae |
| Order | Suberitida |
| Family | Halichondriidae |
| Field Guide group | Porifera: Sponges (Basal Metazoans) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Encrusting intertidal and subtidal mat ranging from yellow-orange to green (from symbiotic algae), dotted with volcano-like exhalant oscula and crumbling like dry bread when broken due to its meshwork of needle-shaped silica oxeas. |
| Order | Suberitida |
| Drug connection | Halichondrin B and eribulin |