Green boring sponge

About this species

Cliona viridis, commonly called the green boring sponge, is a species of demosponge in the family Clionaidae. Its form varies according to the nature of the surface on which it grows. In limestone and other calcareous substrates it excavates channels and chambers while on other types of rock it encrusts the surface or forms massive structures. It is native to the eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indo-Pacific Ocean.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cliona viridis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 29 records
February: 27 records
March: 24 records
April: 135 records
May: 145 records
June: 109 records
July: 196 records
August: 156 records
September: 152 records
October: 105 records
November: 72 records
December: 44 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–20 m · Deepest record: 40 m

0–10 m: 49 records
10–20 m: 30 records
20–30 m: 24 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 17–29 °C

16–18 °C: 18 records
18–20 °C: 37 records
20–22 °C: 33 records
22–24 °C: 7 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 3 records

Photos

(c) Katerina Kalogerini, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Yves Bas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Golfopolikayak, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Green boring sponge, green boring sponge

Names in 4 more languages

German: Grüner Bohrschwamm
Spanish: esponja perforante verde
French: clione verte
Japanese: アナホリカイメン

Other scientific names: Cliona copiosa, Cliona nigricans, Cliona suberea, Cliona tremitensis, Osculina polystomella, Papillella suberea, Papillina nigricans, Papillina suberea, Taguilla nigricans, Tapiliata nigricans, Tapiliata suberea, Vioa viridis

Similar species

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.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,714 open-data records from 1862 to 2024.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.