Comprehensive Description

The Fire Sponge (Tedania ignis) is a conspiciuous sponge that forms rough, bright orange crusts with occasional openings (oscules, through which water is expelled) on hard substrates. As one of the most common, readily collected, and easily manipulated species in shallow waters of the tropical western Atlantic, it has been used in investigations of sponge chemistry, larval biology, and ecology. It is one of a number of sponges that causes contact dermatitis in humans. (Kaplan 1988; Wulff 2006)