Green finger sponge
Iotrochota birotulata
(Higgin, 1977)
Description:
Sprawling or upright, thick, ramose branches with a conulose surface; small incrusting specimens often wholly or partly smooth. Length of the branches up to 50 cm, diameter 1-5 cm. Incrusting specimens may only be a few mm in thickness. Consistency tough, incompressible.
Color:
Black, mottled with longitudinal green patches; occasionally entirely greenish-yellow. Gives off a dark purplish exudates when squeezed.
Habitat:
Known from reefs, undersides of stones in shallow bays and from deeper water beyond the reefs. Frequently covered with winding chains of Golden zoanthids (Parazoanthus swiftii ).
Distribution:
Common South Florida, Caribbean to Venezuela.