Pink sponge

Dysidea avara

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth4–30 m
Water temperature15–30 °C
Best monthsJune, July, and August
How commonOccasional

All species

Photo credit: (c) Vsevolod Rudyi, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 8 records
February: 8 records
March: 18 records
April: 42 records
May: 42 records
June: 63 records
July: 51 records
August: 64 records
September: 40 records
October: 43 records
November: 15 records
December: 10 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–30 m · Deepest record: 287 m

0–10 m: 8 records
10–20 m: 12 records
20–30 m: 6 records
30–40 m: 4 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–30 °C

14–16 °C: 8 records
16–18 °C: 5 records
18–20 °C: 18 records
20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 9 records
26–28 °C: 4 records
28–30 °C: 12 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Pink sponge, pink sponge

Names in 3 more languages

German: Höhlenwächterschwamm
Spanish: esponja diside
French: éponge cavernicole violette, Éponge cheminée rose

Other scientific names: Spongelia avara

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.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
426 open-data records from 1879 to 2024.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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