#4921 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co
Sulphur Boring Sponge
🇳🇱 Boorspons ·Cliona celata
🪼 Jellyfish, starfish, worms & co 📍 in the Netherlands
9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Bernard Picton · CC BY 4.0
- 2. © Clinton Duffy · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Andy Wech · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © galargus · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © tangatawhenua · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © Clinton Duffy · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © Stefan · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Gonzalo Mucientes Sandoval · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
Cliona celata , occasionally called the red boring sponge , is a species of demosponge belonging the family Clionaidae. It is found worldwide. 20 in) in diameter in limestone or the shells of molluscs, especially oysters. The sponge itself is often visible as a rather featureless yellow or orange lump at the bottom of the hole.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 10 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 2,511 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Robert Edmond Grant in 1826 (200 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Sulphur Boring Sponge
- Nederlands
- Boorspons
- scientific name
- Cliona celata
- class
- Demospongiae
- order
- Clionaida
- family
- Clionaidae
- sightings in NL
- 10
- sightings in Europe
- 1,022
- sightings worldwide
- 2,511
- GBIF records in NL
- 384
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1826 by Robert Edmond Grant
relatives· Clionaidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 117715, Wikidata Q965239, GBIF 5183631, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.