Ianthella basta or elephant ear sponge is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of fan-shaped sponge in the class

Class (biology)

In biological classification, class is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, order, family, genus, and species, with class fitting between phylum and order...

 Demospongiae. It is also known as the paper sponge or scroll sponge.

Sponges are marine invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

s with a jellylike mesohyl

Mesohyl

The mesohyl, formerly known as mesenchyme, is the gelatinous matrix within a sponge. It fills the space between the external pinacoderm and the internal choanoderm...

 sandwiched between two layers of cells. They are filter feeders maintaining a flow of water through their structure which passes out through large openings called oscula

Osculum

The osculum is an excretory structure in the living sponge, a large opening to the outside through which the current of water exits after passing through the spongocoel. Wastes diffuse into the water and the water exits through the osculum at a velocity of nearly 8.4 cm/second, carrying away with...

. They have a fragile skeleton of stiff spicule

Spicule

Spicules are tiny spike-like structures of diverse origin and function found in many organisms, such as the copulatory spicules of certain nematodes or the grains on the skin of some frogs.In sponges, spicules perform a structural function....

s.

Distribution

The elephant ear sponge is found in the Indo-Pacific region including Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 and the Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...

. It is found on coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...

s in areas with rapid water flows.

Ecology

The sea cucumber Synaptula lamperti

Synaptula lamperti

Synaptula lamperti is a species of sea cucumber in the family Synaptidae in the phylum Echinodermata, found on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. The echinoderms are marine invertebrates and include the sea urchins, starfish and sea cucumbers...

is closely associated with the sponge and makes use of certain nutrients exuded by it.

Research is being undertaken on various metabolites and other biologically active constituents that are synthesized by the sponge.