Black tar sponge (Dercitus (Dercitus) bucklandi)

Distribution data supplied by the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS). To interrogate UK data visit the NBN Atlas.Map Help

Summary

Description

The only black sponge in Britain and Ireland.  A thin, black, encrusting sponge, appearing as a stretched rubbery membrane. The surface is smooth but often has ridges looking like ‘stretch marks’. It is greyish to yellow in colour internally. The surface is usually concave and has visible patches of large oscules. These vary in size and are normally found in groups towards the centre of the sponge. It is usually firm but can be more compressible in situ. 

Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland

Most records located in the English Channel, the west of the UK from Cornwall, to the northwest of Scotland in the Outer Hebrides. Scattered records around the coast of Ireland. Not recorded from the North Sea.

Global distribution

Found in southern and western locations of the UK and Ireland. Recorded in the Channel Islands and close the north coast of France. Scattered records in the North Atlantic Ocean and off the coast of Louisiana in the USA, in the Gulf of Mexico.  

Habitat

The black tar sponge is found stretched across crevices on vertical and overhanging bedrock. 

Depth range

0-90 m

Identifying features

  • Thin black ‘membrane’ like
  • Yellow-grey colour internally
  • Smooth surface but often with ridges

Additional information

Dercitus (Dercitus) bucklandi could be confused with very dark specimens of Pachymatisma johnstonia. However, no other distinctly black sponges are found in Britain and Ireland. (Bowen et al., 2018).

Listed by

- none -

Further information sources

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Bibliography

  1. Ackers, R.G.A., Moss, D. & Picton, B.E. 1992. Sponges of the British Isles (Sponges: V): a colour guide and working document. Ross-on-Wye: Marine Conservation Society.

  2. Bowen. S., Goodwin. C., Kipling. D. & Picton. B., 2018. Sea Squirts and Sponges of Britain and Ireland, Seasearch Guide. Plymouth: Wild Nature Press. 

  3. Hayward, P.J. & Ryland, J.S. (ed.) 2017. Handbook of the marine fauna of North-West Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  4. Picton, B.E., Morrow, C.C. & van Soest, R.W.B., 2007. [In] Sponges of Britain and Ireland: http://www.habitas.org.uk/marinelife/sponge_guide/sponges.asp?item=C2134

  5. Van Soest, R.W.M., Picton, B. & Morrow, C., 2024. Sponges of the North East Atlantic, 2.0. Leiden, Netherlands: Linnaeus NG - Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Accessed [2024-10-04]. Available from https://sponges-ne-atlantic.linnaeus.naturalis.nl/linnaeus_ng/app/views/introduction/topic.php?id=3392&epi=168  

Datasets

  1. NBN (National Biodiversity Network) Atlas. Available from: https://www.nbnatlas.org.

  2. OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System),  2024. Global map of species distribution using gridded data. Available from: Ocean Biogeographic Information System. www.iobis.org. Accessed: 2024-12-03

Citation

This review can be cited as:

Maleed, M., 2024. Dercitus (Dercitus) bucklandi Black tar sponge. In Tyler-Walters H. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews, [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 03-12-2024]. Available from: https://marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/2367

Last Updated: 04/10/2024