List of marine animals of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay-The Daily Ledger

The list of marine animals of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay is a list of marine and shore-based species that form a part of the fauna of South Africa and that have been recorded ffrom this geographical range. In some cases they are an important part of the ecological community, and others may have been passing through, or were carried out of their natural ranges by the vagaries of ocean currents or winds. Some of the animals are deep within their range of endemicity, or near its borders, while others are cosmopolitan or recently arrived aliens. This list includes animals which live entirely marine lives, or which spend critical parts of their lives at sea, or rely on the sea or intertidal shore for the major part of their diet.

The geographical range is from Bloubergstrand at the north of Table Bay to Cape Hangklip, the south eastern limit of False Bay, in the Western Cape province of South Africa and includes the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area (TMNP MPA), the Helderberg Marine Protected Area, and part of the Robben Island Marine Protected Area.

List of marine animals of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay

Most of the shore is within the City of Cape Town, except for a section of the east coast of False Bay, south of Kogel Bay, which is in the Overstrand Local Municipality

List of marine animals of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay

The region is near to several universities and research institutions in Cape Town and Stellenbosch, which has led to many studies of the organisms and of the marine ecology, particularly those organisms that are easily or incidentally collected. The popularity of these waters for recreational diving has led to an increase in reported underwater photographic observations in recent years.

List of marine animals of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay

Sponges

Calcarea – lime sponges

Order Leucosolenida

Family Sycettidae

Hairy tube sponge, Sycon spp. (Saldanha Bay to Kosi Bay)

Family Leucosoleniidae

Branching ball sponge, Leucosolenia sp. (Cape Peninsula to Cape Agulhas) Tube sponge, Leucosolenia sp. (Port Nolloth to Sodwana Bay)

Demospongiae – fibre or horny sponges

Order Astrophorida

Family Ancorinidae

Grey wall sponge, Stelletta agulhana Lendenfield, 1907 (Northern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal)

Order Hadromerida

Family Clionaidae

Rosetted sponge, Cliona aff. celata (Namibia to Cape Peninsula) Boring sponge, Cliona celata Grant, 1826 (Lüderitz to Durban)

Family Polymastiidae

Teat-sponge, Polymastia mamillaris (Müller, 1806) (dubious), (Saldanha Bay to Port St. Johns) possibly Polymastia littoralis Stephens, 1915. Atlantic teat-sponge, Polymastia atlantica Samaai & Gibbons, 2005 (Lüderitz to Cape Peninsula)

Family Trachycladidae

Orange wall sponge, vented sponge, Trachycladus spinispirulifer (Carter, 1879) (Cape Peninsula to Cape Agulhas)

Family Suberitidae

Dusty sponge, Suberites aff. ficus (both side of the Cape Peninsula, also southern Namibia, Mediterranean, Pacific and north Atlantic)

Family Tethyidae

Golf ball sponge, Tethya aurantium (Lüderitz to Durban)

Order Halichondrida

Family Halichondriidae

Crumb-of-bread sponge, Hymeniacidon perlevis (Montagu, 1818) (Northern Cape to Port St. Johns, also north Atlantic, Mediterranean and the Pacific)

Order Poecilosclerida

Family Chondropsidae

Scroll sponge, Chondropsis sp. (Olifants River to Cape Peninsula)

Family Crambeidae

Stellar sponge, Crambe acuata (Lévi, 1958) syn. Crambe chelastra (Lüderitz to Cape Peninsula)

Family Latrunculiidae

Green moon sponge, Latrunculia lunaviridis Samaai and Kelly 2004, (Oudekraal to Cape Point) Vented sponge, Latrunculia (Biannulata) spinispiraefera Brøndsted, 1924 (Angola to Durban) Tsitsikamma scurra Samaai and Kelly 2004, (Hout Bay)

Family Isodictyidae

Brain sponge, Isodictya elastica (Vosmaer, 1880) (West Coast to Port Elizabeth)(Lüderitz to Cape Point) Flat leaf sponge, Isodictya grandis (Ridley & Dendy, 1886) (West Coast to False Bay) Fanned kelp sponge, Isodictya frondosa (Lévi, 1963) (Orange river to Cape Point)

Family Microcionidae

Broad-bladed tree sponge, Clathria (Clathria) dayi Levi, 1963 (West Coast to the Cape Peninsula) Red encrusting sponge, Clathria (Isociella) oudekraalensis Samaai & Gibbons, 2005 (Cape Peninsula) Nodular sponge, Clathria (Thalysias) hooperi Samaai & Gibbons, 2005, also recorded as Clathria hooperi Samaai & Gibbons, 2005, (Cape Peninsula) Tree sponge, Echinoclathria dichotoma (Levi, 1963) (West Coast to Cape Agulhas)