''Sycon raphanus'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of marine invertebrate, a

calcareous sponge The calcareous sponges of class Calcarea are members of the animal phylum Porifera, the cellular sponges. They are characterized by spicules made of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite or aragonite. While the spicules in most species hav ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Sycettidae Sycettidae is a family of calcareous sponges in the order Leucosolenida. References *http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=131617 accessed 11 November 2010''Sycettidae''at Encyclopedia of Life The ''Encyclopedia of Life'' ( ...

. The name derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, "raphanus", meaning radish, and presumably refers to the sponge's shape. Sponges are composed of a jellylike mesohyl sandwiched between two layers of cells. They have a fragile skeleton composed of stiff

spicules Spicules are any of various small needle-like anatomical structures occurring in organisms Spicule may also refer to: * Spicule (sponge), small skeletal elements of sea sponges * Spicule (nematode), reproductive structures found in male nematodes ...

. They are filter feeders, maintaining a flow of water through their structure which passes out through large openings called

oscula ''Oscula'' is a genus of shield bugs belonging to the family Plataspidae Plataspidae (Emendation (taxonomy), emended by some later authors as "Plataspididae", in violation of International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, ICZN Code Article 29.5 ...

Description

This small purse sponge grows singly and is globular in shape, sometimes with a short stalk. It is up to eight centimetres long and may be grey, yellowish or white. At the tip is an osculum fringed with long, upright spicules. The surface of the sponge is hairy and the consistency soft. The skeleton consists of both triactines and tetractines. This species closely resembles ''

Sycon ciliatum ''Sycon ciliatum'' is a species of calcareous sponge belonging to the family Sycettidae. Description This small purse sponge grows singly or in small groups from a single holdfast. It is up to five centimetres long, fairly stiff, greyish-white an ...

'' but can be distinguished by the fact that the

choanocyte Choanocytes (also known as "collar cells") are cells that line the interior of asconoid, syconoid and leuconoid body types of sponges that contain a central flagellum, or ''cilium,'' surrounded by a collar of microvilli which are connected by a ...

chambers are fused.Marine Species Identification Portal
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Distribution and habitat

''Sycon raphanus'' is found along the western fringes of Europe including

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

, western

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. It is found low down on the shore and in the

neritic zone The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminated ...

down to about seventy metres, in caves, amongst

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ke ...

, under stones, in rock pools and on vertical rockfaces.

References

Leucosolenida Animals described in 1862 {{calcarea-stub