The colour is some shade of pale to mid-brown, sometimes tinged with red, and its consistency varies from firm to cartilaginous.

[2] The species occurs in shallow water in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, including the Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira, and the Iberian Peninsula from Biarritz southwards to Gibraltar.

It is found in coralline algae communities in shady positions, on vertical walls, under overhangs and in caves, at depths down to about 20 m (70 ft).

It feeds on small particles under three micrometres in diameter, such as bacteria, unicellular algae and organic debris.

The sperm are liberated into the sea and if they are drawn into another sponge of the same species, they are engulfed by cells containing the eggs and fertilisation occurs.