An overview of the Mediterranean cave-dwelling horny sponges (Porifera, Demospongiae) Author Manconi, Renata Author Cadeddu, Barbara Author Ledda, Fabio Author Pronzato, Roberto text ZooKeys 2013 281 1 68 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.281.4171 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.281.4171 1313-2970-281-1 Aplysina cavernicola (Vacelet, 1959) Fig. 38 Verongia cavernicola Vacelet, 1959: 88. Description. Body shape constantly digitate (1-2 cm in diameter and 5-10 cm in height); each digitation bearing one oscule (1-3 mm) at the center of an evident apical depression. Digitations regularly arranged on a basal encrusting plate attending over 50 cm in diameter. Thin outgrowths extremely rare. Colour yellow, a little bit paler than that of Aplysina aerophoba . Colour tone changes after death, to medium violet in preserved specimens, never reaching very dark or black tonalities. Habitat. Cave, coralligenous community, rocky/detritic bottom. Typically sciophilous. Bathymetric range 1-110 m. Mediterranean Caves. Blava, Calamars, Meda Petita, Petita de la Vaca, Misidacis caves (Balearic Sea); Bear, Troc, Figuier, Tremies , Bagaud caves (Gulf of Lions); Gallinara, Bergeggi, Tinetto caves (Ligurian Sea); Bonifacio, Tuffo Tuffo caves (Central Tyrrhenian Sea); Croatian, Vrbnik-Krk, Strazica , Columbera caves (Northern Adriatic Sea); Pagliai (Southern Adriatic Sea) ( Vacelet 1961b ; Ruetzler 1966 ; Boury-Esnault 1971 ; Pouliquen 1972 ; Bibiloni et al. 1984b ; Uriz et al. 1992 ; Bianchi and Morri 1994 ; Arko-Pjevac et al. 2001 ; Novosel et al. 2002 ; Harmelin et al. 2003 ; Faresi et al. 2006 ; Tunesi et al. 2008 ; Pronzato and Manconi 2011 ; Bakran-Petricioli et al. 2012 ). Figure 38. Aplysina cavernicola . a large digitate colony ca. 70-80 cm b cross section (LM) of a laminate fibre showing a light spongy core that, in dried conditions, becomes empty c, d different magnifications (LM) of the skeleton, indistinguishable from that of Aplysina aerophoba .