Brush horny sponge

Ciocalypta penicillus

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth13–45 m
Water temperature9–29 °C
Best monthsJune, July, and August
How commonOccasional

All species

Photo credit: (c) Bernard Picton, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Bernard Picton · CC BY · iNaturalist

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 62 records
February: 10 records
March: 25 records
April: 54 records
May: 108 records
June: 172 records
July: 233 records
August: 210 records
September: 153 records
October: 31 records
November: 41 records
December: 10 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 13–45 m · Deepest record: 140 m

0–10 m: 30 records
10–20 m: 283 records
20–30 m: 333 records
30–40 m: 58 records
40–50 m: 49 records
50–60 m: 17 records
60–70 m: 6 records
70–80 m: 15 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 4 records
100–110 m: 4 records
110+ m: 20 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–29 °C

8–10 °C: 3 records
10–12 °C: 109 records
12–14 °C: 791 records
14–16 °C: 4 records
16–18 °C: 22 records
18–20 °C: 3 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 0 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Bernard Picton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lou Wagstaffe, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jacqui Geux, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Bernard Picton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lou Wagstaffe, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Brush horny sponge, Brush sponge, brush horny sponge, brush sponge

Names in 3 more languages

German: Pinselschamm
French: Eponge pinceau, éponge pinceau
Japanese: アオホテイカイメン

Other scientific names: Ciocalypta leei, Spongia cavernosa

Similar species

Ciocalypta polymastia
Ciocalypta digitata
Ciocalypta stalagmites
Ciocalypta tyleri
Crumb-of-bread sponge
Hymeniacidon perlevis
Breadcrumb sponge
Halichondria (Halichondria) panicea

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).
1,654 open-data records from 1915 to 2025.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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