Dysidea etheria De Laubenfels, 1936 Dictyoceratida, Dysideidae Common name: None. Growth Form: Amorphous, encrusting, lobate, or finger-like. Surface: Sharp conules , 1 mm high or more, about 2-3 mm apart. Color: Bluish, lavender to gray. Paler inside. Consistency: Softly spongy, very compressible, limp, weak, easily torn. Oscules: Few, round, flush or with a slightly raised transparent membrane; scattered or on tops of lobes, 5–10 mm wide. Skeletal components (Spicules, fibers): Spongin fiber meshwork densely filled with foreign material (sand grains and spicule fragments). No native spicules. Skeletal Architecture: Meshes variable, from rectangular to rounded. Clear primary fibers (140-370 μm across) loaded with foreign material. Smaller secondary fibers (30-260 μm across) not distinct, containing less foreign material. Free spongin chiefly at fiber junctions, clearly stratified. Ecology: On shallow reefs, bays, lagoons, seagrass beds on hard bottoms. Distribution: South Florida and throughout the Caribbean Sea. Reference(s): van Soest 1980, Zea 1987 Similar species: Niphates erecta