# Boring sponge (*Cliona celata*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/cliona-celata  
Data as of: 2026-11-14

The boring sponge (Cliona celata) is a sponge in the family Clionaidae, part of the phylum Porifera. It belongs to the genus Cliona, order Clionaida and class Demospongiae, and was named by Grant, 1826. Other English names for it include sulfur sponge, red boring sponge, yellow boring sponge, sulphur boring sponge and yellow boring horny sponge. The Catalogue of Life lists it as a living, not extinct, species.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | coastal |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Recorded prey and predators

 Recorded predators: Corkwing (*Symphodus melops*). Each pair is recorded by at least two datasets compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/, CC0 1.0).

## Introduced range

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists it as introduced in 1 country. Introduced: Argentina. Source: https://griis.org/ (CC BY 4.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Porifera
- class: Demospongiae
- order: Clionaida
- family: Clionaidae
- genus: Cliona
- species: *Cliona celata* Grant, 1826

Synonyms: *Cliona alderi*, *Cliona angulata*, *Cliona celata var. linearis*, *Cliona clio*, *Cliona coccinea*, *Cliona globulifera*, *Cliona gorgonioides*, *Cliona griffithsii*, *Cliona hystrix*, *Cliona pasithea*, *Cliona sulphurea*, *Cliona tenebrosus*, *Cliona terebrans*, *Cliona typica*, *Halichondria celata*, *Halichondria hystrix*, *Hymeniacidon celata*, *Hymeniacidon celata*, *Hymeniacidon celatus*, *Hymeniacidon tenebrosus*, *Pione typica*, *Raphyrus griffithsii*, *Rhaphyrus griffithsii*, *Spongia peziza*, *Spongia sulphurea*, *Spongia terebrans*, *Suberites griffithsii*, *Vioa celata*, *Vioa celata*, *Vioa clio*, *Vioa coccinea*, *Vioa dujardini*, *Vioa pasithea*, *Vioa typica*

## Common questions

### What is the scientific name of the boring sponge?

Its scientific name is Cliona celata, in the genus Cliona.

### Who named the boring sponge and when?

The boring sponge was named by Grant, 1826.

### What other names does the boring sponge have?

It is also called the sulfur sponge, red boring sponge, yellow boring sponge, sulphur boring sponge and yellow boring horny sponge.

### Is the boring sponge extinct?

No. The Catalogue of Life lists the boring sponge as living, not extinct.

### What class and order does the boring sponge belong to?

It belongs to the class Demospongiae and the order Clionaida.

### Is the boring sponge an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the boring sponge as introduced in 1 country: Argentina, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

### What eats the boring sponge?

Animals recorded preying on the boring sponge include corkwing. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

## Sources

- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products](https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/), CC0 1.0, 0.11. Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference.
- [Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS)](https://griis.org/), CC BY 4.0, 2026-11-13. Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group.
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Boring sponge (Cliona celata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cliona-celata