Short Description:

This  is an elegantly branching, soft sponge with a pienk colour with white tips. The branches are somewhat flattened. The surface is velvety. Oscules are small and arranged in rows along the branches. It occurs in shallow subtidal, occasionally intertidal habitats, often associated with rather silted water.
Shape, size, surface and consistency: Basically the sponge consist of solid branches growing from a short stalk which is attached to the substratum with a pedicel (Spongia oculata). There is a considerable variation in the number and the degree of fusing of the branches. The branches may remain isolated along their entire length  or fuse to such a degree that the sponge becomes flabelliform (Chalina oculata). Commonly the diameter of the branches decreases towards the blind ends, but there is also variation in this feature. There is a strong tendency of the branches to be laterally compressed. The oscules are always small, 1-3 mm, and mainly arranged on the narrower sides of the compressed branches. They are not or only slightly elevated. When the sponge is flabelliform, the oscules are mainly situated on the margins of the blade; it happens quite frequently that the oscules are then situated at the summit of small mammiform elevations, making the margins of the blades undulating. The sponge may reach a considerable size, commonly it is between ca. 10 cm and 30 cm in height. Surface very smooth and velvety to the touch, slightly hispid. Consistency rather soft but elastic, not fragile; towards the base the sponge becomes firmer; the stalk is very firm and incompressible.

•  A field guide to the Marine Animals of the Cape Peninsula
  Georgina Jones

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