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{{Short description|Species of sponge}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Aphrocallistes vastus.jpg
| taxon = Aphrocallistes vastus
| authority = Schulze, 1886 <ref name=worms>{{cite web |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=171632 |title=''Aphrocallistes vastus'' Schulze, 1886 |publisher=World Register of Marine Species |accessdate=2012-10-06 }}</ref>
| synonyms = {{hidden begin|title = List}}
*''Aphrocallistes intermedia'' Okada, 1932
*''Aphrocallistes whiteavesianus'' Lambe, 1892
*''Aphrocallistes yatsui'' Okada, 1932
{{hidden end}}
}}

The '''cloud sponge''' ''(Aphrocallistes vastus)'', also known as the '''quesadilla sponge''', is a species of [[sea sponge]] in the class [[Hexactinellida]].<ref name=uniprot>{{cite web |url=https://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/83887 |title=''Aphrocallistes vastus'' (cloud sponge) |publisher=UniProt |accessdate= 2009-03-15 }}</ref> It is a deep-water [[Sponge reef|reef-forming]] animal. The species was first described by F.E. Schulze in 1886.<ref name=worms/>

==Description==
The cloud sponge takes the form of a large cup with an irregularly folded wall about {{convert|5|mm}} thick. This is pierced by many pores about {{convert|1|mm}} wide and covered by a thin dermal membrane. The skeletal elements form a lattice-like structure made up of fused [[Sponge spicule|spicules]] of [[Silicon dioxide|silica]]. These mesh together and project into the adjoining canals. There is a fir-tree like concentration of spicules running through the body wall with the branches either having rounded or knobbly ends.
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://porifera.lifedesks.org/pages/2539 |title=''Aphrocallistes vastus'' Schulze, 1886 |author=Schulze, F. E. |date=1887 |work=Porifera |publisher= |accessdate=2012-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727031647/http://porifera.lifedesks.org/pages/2539 |archive-date=2011-07-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The form of the sponge varies according to the location in which it is found. The quesadilla sponge's common name derives from a morphological variation first observed in the [[Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary]].<ref name=Laidig>{{cite journal |author1=Laidig, Tom |author2=Watters, Diana |author3=Prouty, Nancy |author4=Clarke, Elizabeth |year=2023 |title=A characterization of the deep-sea coral and sponge community along the Oregon Coast using a remotely operated vehicle on the EXPRESS 2022 expedition |journal=NOAA technical memorandum NMFS-SWFSC |url=https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/56191 }}</ref> It often has a mitten-like structure or may be tall and cylindrical or bowl-like but in areas with strong currents can be dense and compact.<ref name=Austin>{{cite journal |author1=Austin, William C. |author2=Conway, Kim W. |author3=Barrie, J. Vaughn |author4=Krautter. Manfred |year=2007 |title=Growth and morphology of a reef-forming glass sponge, ''Aphrocallistes vastus'' (Hexactinellida), and implications for recovery from widespread trawl damage |journal=Porifera Research: Biodiversity, Innovation and Sustainability |url=http://www.poriferabrasil.mn.ufrj.br/iss/09-book/pdf/Austin%20et%20al%20-%20Growth%20and%20morphology%20of%20Aphrocallistes%20vastus.pdf }}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Distribution==
The cloud sponge is found in the northern Pacific Ocean. Its range includes Japan, Siberia, the Aleutian Islands and the west coast of North America from Alaska southwards to California and Mexico.<ref name=worms/> It is a reef-building species found in deep waters on the western Canadian shelf growing on sediment-free rocks. It grows and is more easily studied in fiords off the coast of British Columbia at depths of only {{convert|25|m}}.<ref name=Austin/>

==Ecology==
The cloud sponge is one of several species of glass sponge that form slow growing reefs in deep water. Their skeletons create habitat for diverse communities of [[invertebrate]]s and [[fish]]. Its body is primarily made of biogenic silica (>90%)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chu|first=Jwf|last2=Maldonado|first2=M|last3=Yahel|first3=G|last4=Leys|first4=Sp|date=2011-11-15|title=Glass sponge reefs as a silicon sink|url=http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v441/p1-14/|journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series|language=en|volume=441|pages=1–14|doi=10.3354/meps09381|issn=0171-8630|doi-access=free|hdl=10261/55102|hdl-access=free}}</ref> which is of no nutritional value yet dorid nudibranchs (''[[Diaulula letiginosa|Diaulula lentiginosa]]'' and ''[[Doris odhneri]]'') have been shown to engorge themselves with cloud sponge.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chu|first=Jackson W. F.|last2=Leys|first2=Sally P.|date=2012|title=The dorid nudibranchs Peltodoris lentiginosa and Archidoris odhneri as predators of glass sponges|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1744-7410.2012.00262.x|journal=Invertebrate Biology|language=en|volume=131|issue=2|pages=75–81|doi=10.1111/j.1744-7410.2012.00262.x|issn=1744-7410|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The cloud sponge is fragile and has a texture rather like dry toast. Its growth rate is slow with juveniles growing into moderate sized individuals in ten or twenty years. It is easily damaged by seabed trawling and seems to be killed by severe trauma although small injuries can be repaired.<ref name=Austin/>

==See also==
* [[Hexactinellid]] sponges (glass sponges)
* [[Sponge reef]]
* [[Sponge Reef Project]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2195904}}

[[Category:Hexactinellida]]

Cloud sponge - Revision history

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