White calcerous sponge on Teardrop Maxima

[TXLewis]

Noticed today one of the white calcerous sponge thingies growing near the top of my Teardrop. The sponge is one of the white variety with one large hole near the middle and a lot of little holes elsewhere. This thing seems to add about 1mm of diameter every 2-3 days and at this point its perimeter is touching the edge of where the Maxima is laying down new shell. The clam is holding its mantle just slightly away from this - which tells me it finds it irritating.

Should I try to remove the sponge?

 

[meemmoo]

I would take a soft tooth brush and remove it especially if it's irritating it.