Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Clathria (Microciona) stellata
Esponja, Sponge
Only found at Isabela Island, but common on the westerm side of the island, found growing on rocks around 12 m of depth (Hickman, et al. 2021)
Named for co-author Cleveland Hickman’s grand-daughter Stella. The species name also reflects the shimmering, translucent, star-shaped aquiferous canals that emanate from the oscules on the surface of this beautiful sponge (Lat. adjective agreeing with Microciona = ‘starry’) (Sim-Smith et al., 2021).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Porifera
Class
Demospongiae
Order
Poecilosclerida
Family
Microcionidae
Genus
Clathria (Microciona)
Species
stellata
Taxon category: Accepted
Holotype: MCCDRS9466, Cape Berkeley, Isabela Island, 0.010° S, 91.595° W, 12 m, 29 Nov 2004; Type locality: Cape Berkeley - Isabela Island (Sim-Smith et al., 2021)
Origin: Endemic
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Galapagos Islands: Cape Berkeley-Isabela Island, commonly observed on the west side of Isabela Island (Sim-Smith et al., 2021)
- Hickman, C.P. Jr. Sim-Amith, C. & Michelle, K. (2021) A field guide to Sponge of Galápagos. Sugar Spring Press, Lexington, Virginia.
- Horton, T. Horton, T., Kroh, A., Ahyong, S., Bailly, N., Boyko, C. B., Brandão, S. N., Gofas, S., Hooper, J. N. A., Hernandez, F., Holovachov, O., Mees, J., Molodtsova, T. N., Paulay, G., Decock, W., Dekeyzer, S., Poffyn, G., Vandepitte, L., Vanhoorne, B., Adlard, R., ... Zhao, Z. (2021) World Register of Marine Species. Available from https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ.
- IUCN (2023) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2023-1. Https://www.iucnredlist.org
- Sim-Smith, C. CLEVELAND HICKMAN, J. R., & Kelly, M. (2021) New shallow water sponges (Porifera) from the Gálapagos Islands Zootaxa, 5012(1), 1–71. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5012.1.1
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Clathria (Microciona) stellata", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=18819. Accessed 31 October 2026.