Heavenly Sponge

Dysidea etheria

Other invertebrates
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth1–11 m
Water temperature15–29 °C
Best monthsMay, July, and September
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Tom Kennedy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Dysidea etheria, commonly known as the ethereal sponge or heavenly sponge, is a species of lobate sponge within the class Demospongiae. This marine sponge is known for its light blue color and can be found in the Caribbean as well as off the coasts of Florida and Georgia. Like all other poriferans, D. etheria is capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction. The use of spicule collection as well as chemical defenses allows D. etheria to protect itself against predators such as the zebra doris and the orange knobby star. D. etheria is also known as a host species of the invasive brittle star Ophiothela mirabilis. Lastly, various molecular biology studies have utilized D. etheria to both study foreign particle transport in sponges and to isolate novel molecules.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 25 records
February: 37 records
March: 38 records
April: 33 records
May: 53 records
June: 48 records
July: 64 records
August: 50 records
September: 71 records
October: 30 records
November: 32 records
December: 36 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–11 m · Deepest record: 124 m

0–10 m: 139 records
10–20 m: 11 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–29 °C

14–16 °C: 5 records
16–18 °C: 6 records
18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 49 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 18 records
26–28 °C: 165 records
28–30 °C: 55 records

Photos

(c) Melissa Meadows, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Irvine, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Irvine, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Heavenly Sponge

Names in 1 more languages

Spanish: Esponja celestial

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).
447 open-data records from 1932 to 2024.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist