DiscoverSpeciesOther invertebrates
Purple-staining sponge
Iotrochota baculifera
- Usual depth1–25 m
- Water temperature20–30 °C
- Best monthsSeptember
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Philippe Bourjon, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 6 records
- February: 3 records
- March: 8 records
- April: 15 records
- May: 7 records
- June: 5 records
- July: 12 records
- August: 12 records
- September: 39 records
- October: 9 records
- November: 14 records
- December: 8 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–25 m · Deepest record: 91.7 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C
Photos
(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Purple-staining sponge, purple-staining sponge
Names in 2 more languages
- Japanese
- フジイロカイメン
- Korean
- 보라바퀴해면
Other scientific names: Hiattrochota baculifera, Hiattrochota ditrochota, Hiattrochota hiatti, Hiattrochota mystile, Iotrochota hiatti
Similar species
Green Finger SpongeIotrochota birotulata
Iodine Finger SpongeIotrochota purpurea
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).
- 167 open-data records from 1884 to 2019.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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