Spongiforma squarepantsii

Spongiforma squarepantsii is a species of fungus. It is in the Boletaceae family and the Spongiforma genus. It was first seen in Malaysia in 2011.^[1] It makes orange fruit bodies that have the odor of a fruit. The fruit bodies can grow to 10 cm wide and 7 cm tall. If water is taken out, it will go back to its first shape. Its spores are in the shape of an almond. The spores can be 10 to 12.5 μm in width and 6 to 7 µm in depth.^[2] The name of the fungus came from the fictional character SpongeBob SquarePants.^[3] S. squarepantsii is one of the two species in Spongiforma. The other is S. thailandica.^[1]

Spongiforma squarepantsii
Two halves of the orangish sponge-like fungus, with a ruler shown at the bottom for scale.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Boletales
Family:	Boletaceae
Genus:	Spongiforma
Species:	S. squarepantsii
Binomial name
Spongiforma squarepantsii Desjardin, Peay & T.D.Bruns (2011)
Map of Sarawak, Malaysia, location of Lambir Hills National Park

References

1. Willingham E. (June 22, 2011). "Dennis Desjardin: A fungus named after SpongeBob". Earthsky.org. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
2. Desjardin DE, Peay KB, Bruns TD (2011). "Spongiforma squarepantsii, a new species of gasteroid bolete from Borneo". Mycologia. 103 (5): 1119–23. doi:10.3852/10-433. PMID 21558499. S2CID 15849227.
3. GrrlScientist (June 22, 2011). "The new fungus from Bikini Bottom". Punctuated Equilibrium, The Guardian. Retrieved January 11, 2021.