CreatureData

Barrel sponge

Xestospongia testudinaria (Lamarck, 1815)

Status not recordedsponges

The barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria) is a sponge in the family Petrosiidae, order Haplosclerida and class Demospongiae. It belongs to the phylum Porifera in the kingdom Animalia, and its scientific name carries the authority (Lamarck, 1815).

Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria)
Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the barrel sponge

Other English names for it are Large barrel sponge, Turtleshell bath sponge and Indo-Pacific giant barrel sponge. The Catalogue of Life lists it as a living, not extinct, species.

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Height
10 cm – 20 cmsrc for Height
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the barrel sponge?

BARREL SPONGE · HEIGHT 20 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 20 cm, the recorded maximum height of the barrel sponge is about 12% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the barrel sponge

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria)
Elias Levy · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria)
Ratha Grimes from Seattle, WA, United States · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria)
Albert Kok at Dutch Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria)
Albert Kok at Dutch Wikipedia ( Original text: Albert Kok ) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria)
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria)
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria)
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the barrel sponge live?

Not recorded

What is the barrel sponge?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

Xestospongia testudinaria is a species of barrel sponge in the family Petrosiidae. More commonly known as Giant Barrel Sponges, they have the basic structure of a typical sponge. Their body is made of a reticulation of cells aggregate on a siliceous scaffold composed of small spikes called spicules. Water is taken into the inner chamber of the sponge (known as the spongocoel) through ostia (small pores created by porocytes). Flagellated choanocytes line the inner chamber and help generate water currents through the sponge.

Due to the amount of water that Great Barrel Sponges filter throughout their lifespan, they perform an important ecological role.

From the Wikipedia article “Xestospongia testudinaria” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xestospongia_testudinaria&oldid=1299494128), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the barrel sponge endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the barrel sponge classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumPorifera
  3. classDemospongiae
  4. orderHaplosclerida
  5. familyPetrosiidae
  6. genusXestospongia
  7. SpeciesXestospongia testudinaria (Lamarck, 1815)

Synonyms Alcyonium testudinarium, Petrosia testudinaria, Petrosia testudinaria var. fistulophora, Reniera crateriformis, Reniera testudinaria, Xestospongia testudinaria var. fistulophora

Other names and names in other languages (9)
  • Indo-Pacific giant barrel spongeEnglish
  • Large barrel spongeEnglish
  • Turtleshell bath spongeEnglish
  • BadewannenschwammGerman
  • Großer VasenschwammGerman
  • Esponja gigante de barrilSpanish
  • Éponge-barriqueFrench
  • Spugna barile giganteItalian
  • ฟองน้ำครกThai

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMS

Relatives of the barrel sponge

Other species in the same genus Xestospongia.

CompareBarrel sponge vs Giant barrel spongeBarrel sponge vs Polar bear spongeBarrel sponge vs Xestospongia arenosaBarrel sponge vs Xestospongia bergquistia

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the barrel sponge?

The barrel sponge is a sponge, an invertebrate animal in the phylum Porifera and class Demospongiae.

What is the scientific name of the barrel sponge?

Its scientific name is Xestospongia testudinaria, in the genus Xestospongia.

Who named Xestospongia testudinaria and when?

It was named by Lamarck in 1815, written as (Lamarck, 1815).

What family does the barrel sponge belong to?

It belongs to the family Petrosiidae, in the order Haplosclerida.

What other names does the barrel sponge have?

It is also called Large barrel sponge, Turtleshell bath sponge and Indo-Pacific giant barrel sponge.

Is the barrel sponge extinct?

No, the Catalogue of Life lists it as living, not extinct.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/barrel-sponge

MLA

“Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/barrel-sponge.

BibTeX
@misc{barrel_sponge_2026,
  title = {Barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/barrel-sponge},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}