Caribbean Brown Tube Sponge (Agelas conifera)

by B. N. Sullivan

This Brown Tube Sponge (Agelas conifera) is a fairly common sight on walls and reef canyons in the Caribbean region, and the Bahamas.  The tubes, which reach a length of 30 to 90 cm (about one to three feet), grow in clusters from a common base.

This sponge likes deep water, so you are not likely to see it on shallow reefs.  It prefers depths below 10 meters (30 ft), and we have seen the species at depths greater than 30 meters (100 ft), especially at places like Bloody Bay Wall, Little Cayman Island.  That's where I photographed the example above.