| Aplysina cavernicola | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A colony off the coast of Mykonos, Greece | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Porifera |
| Class: | Demospongiae |
| Order: | Verongida |
| Family: | Aplysinidae |
| Genus: | Aplysina |
| Species: | A. cavernicola |
| Binomial name | |
| Aplysina cavernicola (Vacelet, 1959) [1] | |
| Synonyms | |
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Aplysina cavernicola is a species of sponge in the family Aplysinidae. It is native to the Mediterranean Sea where it grows in caves and under overhangs. [2]
Aplysina cavernicola forms clumps that may be up to 30 cm (12 in) across. It has a base that adheres to a rock or other hard surface, out of which project a number of finger-like processes up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long and 2 cm (0.8 in) in diameter. The surface is sparsely covered with small conical protrusions, which are caused by the tips of horny fibres embedded in the tissues. There are no spicules, structural support being provided by a mesh of spongin fibres. Water is drawn in through pores known as ostia at the base of the sponge and ejected from the oscuili which are situated in slight depressions at the tips of the processes. The body colour is yellowish. [2]
This sponge is a hermaphrodite; ciliated larvae known as parenchymella larvae are released into the water and soon settle in a suitable location and undergo metamorphosis into juvenile sponges. [3]
This sponge accumulates brominated isoxazoline alkaloids in its tissues at concentrations of up to 10% of its dry body weight. By incorporating these biologically active compounds into experimental diets, it has been shown in feeding trials that they are distasteful to the sphinx blenny (Blennius sphinx), a polyphagous Mediterranean fish, while other sponges are readily eaten. Certain metabolic derivatives of these isoxazolines, such as dienone and aeroplysinin, are not distasteful to the fish, but may have anti-microbial properties that protect the sponge from bacterial pathogens. [4] This sponge also bioaccumulates radionuclides, and has been used as a model organism to study the presence of isotopes such as americium-241 in seawater. [5]
Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera, are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them, consisting of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells.
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish are also known as asteroids due to being in the class Asteroidea. About 1,900 species of starfish live on the seabed in all the world's oceans, from warm, tropical zones to frigid, polar regions. They are found from the intertidal zone down to abyssal depths, at 6,000 m (20,000 ft) below the surface.
Anisakis (a·nuh·saa·keez) is a genus of parasitic nematodes that have life cycles involving fish and marine mammals. They are infective to humans and cause anisakiasis. People who produce immunoglobulin E in response to this parasite may subsequently have an allergic reaction, including anaphylaxis, after eating fish infected with Anisakis species.
Agelas clathrodes, also known as the orange elephant ear sponge, is a species of sea sponge. It lives on reefs in the Caribbean, usually more than 10 metres (33 ft) below the surface of the ocean. It takes various forms, and its color is reddish orange.
Sponge reefs are reefs formed by Hexactinellid sponges, which have a skeleton made of silica, and are often referred to as glass sponges. Such reefs are now very rare, and found only in waters off the coast of British Columbia, Washington and southern Alaska. Recently sponge reefs were identified within the strait of Georgia and Howe sound close to Vancouver. Although common in the late Jurassic period, reef-building sponges were believed to have gone extinct during or shortly after the Cretaceous period, until the existing reefs were discovered Queen Charlotte sound in 1987–1988 – hence these sometimes being dubbed living fossils.
Homosclerophorida is an order of marine sponges. It is the only order in the monotypic class Homoscleromorpha. The order is composed of two families: Plakinidae and Oscarellidae.
Spicules are structural elements found in most sponges. The meshing of many spicules serves as the sponge's skeleton and thus it provides structural support and potentially defense against predators.
Ircinia strobilina is a species of sponge in the family Irciniidae. It is grey or shiny black in colour, with spiny structures (conules) dotting the surface. The spiny structures are interconnected by ridges, though not arranged in an orderly lattice. This species is globular and massive in shape, but usually no more than 0.3 metres (1 ft) across. I. strobilina is lobed and spherical and has a tough consistency. The large excurrent pores are located in depressions at the top of the sponge. Many smaller incurrent pores are scattered across the surface, more densely at the sides.
Spongia officinalis, better known as a variety of bath sponge, is a commercially used sea sponge. Individuals grow in large lobes with small openings and are formed by a mesh of primary and secondary fibers. It is light grey to black in color. It is found throughout the Mediterranean Sea up to 100 meters deep on rocky or sandy surfaces.
Myxilla incrustans is a species of demosponge. It is an encrusting species and is usually yellow.
Sea sponge aquaculture is the process of farming sea sponges under controlled conditions. It has been conducted in the world's oceans for centuries using a number of aquaculture techniques. There are many factors such as light, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen and the accumulation of waste products that influence the growth rate of sponges. The benefits of sea sponge aquaculture are realised as a result of its ease of establishment, minimum infrastructure requirements and the potential to be used as a source of income for populations living in developing countries. Sea sponges are produced on a commercial scale to be used as bath sponges or to extract biologically active compounds which are found in certain sponge species. Techniques such as the rope and mesh bag method are used to culture sponges independently or within an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture system setting. One of the only true sustainable sea sponges cultivated in the world occur in the region of Micronesia, with a number of growing and production methods used to ensure and maintain the continued sustainability of these farmed species.
Agelas flabelliformis, also known as the elephant ear sponge, is a species of demosponge. It takes the form of a large leathery slender flap and is found in the Caribbean area at depths down to 100 metres (330 ft).
Callyspongia truncata is a species of marine sea sponge. Like all marine sponges, C. truncata is a member of phylum Porifera and is defined by its filter-feeding lifestyle and flagellated choanocytes, or collar cells, that allow for water movement and feeding. It is a species of demosponge and a member of Demospongiae, the largest class of sponges as well as the family Callyspongiidae. C. truncata is most well known for being the organism from which the polyketide Callystatin A was identified. Callystatin A is a polyketide natural product from the leptomycin family of antibiotics. It was first isolated in 1997 from this organism, which was collected from the Goto Islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture of Japan by the Kobayashi group. Recent studies have revealed numerous other bioactive compounds that have been found in this species.
Oscarella carmela, commonly known as the slime sponge, is a species of sponge in the order Homosclerophorida that was first described in 2004 by G. Muricy and J.S. Pearse. It is believed to be native to intertidal waters in the north east temperate Pacific Ocean and was first found in seawater aquaria in that region. It is used as a model organism in evolutionary biology.
Cliona viridis, commonly called the green boring sponge, is a species of demosponge in the family Clionaidae. Its form varies according to the nature of the surface on which it grows. In limestone and other calcareous substrates it excavates channels and chambers while on other types of rock it encrusts the surface or forms massive structures. It is native to the eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indo-Pacific Ocean.
Oscarella lobularis is a species of sponge in the order Homosclerophorida. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, where it forms encrusting colonies on rocks and other hard surfaces.
Lamellaria perspicua, commonly known as the transparent lamellaria, is a species of small, slug-like sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Velutinidae. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, where it feeds on colonial ascidians.
Aplysina aerophoba is a species of sponge in the family Aplysinidae. It is a yellow, tube-forming or encrusting sponge and is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea; the type locality is the Adriatic Sea.
Jean Vacelet is a French marine biologist who specialises in the underwater fauna of the Mediterranean. After earning his licence at the Faculté des Sciences de Marseille and learning to dive in 1954, he specialised in the study of sponges at the Marine station of Endoume, and there he has stayed faithful to both sponges and place for more than half a century. His research has included all aspects of sponges: taxonomy, habitat, biology, anatomy, their bacterial associations, and their place in the evolution of multi-celled animals. He has studied them not only in the Mediterranean but in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Exploration of underwater grottoes, together with Jacques Laborel and Jo Hamelin, revealed the existence of sponges dating from very ancient geological periods and the unexpected existence of carnivorous sponges, and surprisingly, the grottoes in some ways mimicked life at much greater depths.
Polymastia penicillus is a species of sponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is found in shallow water in the northeastern and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, growing on rocks in areas of high sedimentation.
