Purple Encrusting Sponge (Haliclona cinerea)

Other Names: Pink turret sponge

Description: The pores of purple, yellow-green, and red encrusting sponges can sometimes take on a volcano-like appearance; other times, they simply look like holes on a flat surface. spotted leopard dorids eat purple encrusting sponge

Habitat: commonly found in the intertidal zone of the Pacific Ocean along North America on rocks and between rock crevices in tide pools

Diet: They filter feed in the water in order to eat things like detritus, plankton, and they can even filter dissolved nutrients in the water into their bodies.

Tide Pool Tidbits:

References: Central Coast Biodiversity pages on purple encrusting sponge and yellow-green encrusting sponge