Golf Ball Sponge

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 32 records
February: 25 records
March: 24 records
April: 39 records
May: 56 records
June: 34 records
July: 22 records
August: 21 records
September: 40 records
October: 60 records
November: 82 records
December: 32 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 10–73 m · Deepest record: 84 m

0–10 m: 5 records
10–20 m: 12 records
20–30 m: 13 records
30–40 m: 5 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 7 records
60–70 m: 20 records
70–80 m: 8 records
80–90 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 16–30 °C

14–16 °C: 2 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 17 records
24–26 °C: 96 records
26–28 °C: 112 records
28–30 °C: 75 records

Photos

(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pierre Pericard, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Golf Ball Sponge

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: ゴウシウマルカイメン
Simplified Chinese: 澳洲球形海綿

Other scientific names: Cinachyra australiensis, Cinachyra isis, Cinachyra providentiae, Cinachyrella isis, Craniella australiensis, Spiretta raphidiophora, Tethya australiensis, Tetilla australiensis, Tetilla cinachyroides, Tetilla lindgreni

Similar species

Purple Moon Sponge
Cinachyrella tenuiviolacea
Cinachyrella albabidens
Cinachyrella cavernosa
Cinachyrella crustata
Cinachyrella enigmatica
Cinachyrella macellata

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
392 open-data records from 1886 to 2011.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.