Water is drawn in through fine holes near their base, the ostia, moved along by flagella and expelled from the oscula at the top, each osculum being a single exit formed from many fused ascon tubes.

The skeleton is composed of large calcareous spicules called megascleres, made predominantly of calcite, forming a soft, fragile, supporting network.

[3] It grows on shady rock substrates and in caves but its preferred location is the underside of ledges formed by horizontal, plate-like layers of coral.

[2] In a 2007 survey of sponges off the coast of Georgia, Arturia canariensis was discovered in cryptic locations under rocks, in crevices and overgrown by other organisms.

[4] Arturia canariensis is a filter feeder, sieving plankton and other organic material out of the current of water as it passes through the ostia.