Cliona californiana

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Cliona californiana
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Demospongiae
Order: Clionaida
Family: Clionaidae
Genus: Cliona
Species:
C. californiana
Binomial name
Cliona californiana
Synonyms [1]
  • Cliona celata var. californiana de Laubenfels, 1932
  • Pseudosuberites pseudos Dickinson, 1945

Cliona californiana, the yellow boring sponge, boring sponge or sulphur sponge, is a species of demosponge belonging to the family Clionaidae. It is native to the north-eastern Pacific Ocean and burrows into the shell valves of bivalve molluscs.

Contents

Description

The yellow boring sponge inhabits living bivalve molluscs, boring into the shell valves. The only parts of the sponge which are visible from the outside are small yellow patches up to 3 mm (0.1 in) in diameter, sometimes containing small oscula (openings). The sponge spicules are silicaceous (glassy) and are scattered throughout the sponge tissues. They consist entirely of megascleres known as "tylostyles", which are a kind of spicule with a single shaft, with a point on one end and a knob on the other. These characteristic spicules distinguish this sponge from any other sponge species found in the locality. [2]

Distribution and habitat

The yellow boring sponge is native to the north-eastern Pacific Ocean, its range extending from Alaska to Baja California. It is most often found in the subtidal zone but also occurs in the intertidal zone. It is more common in the colder waters in the northern part of its range than it is in the southern part, and it occurs at depths down to about 120 m (400 ft). [2]

Ecology

A newly settled young sponge makes its way to the shell of a suitable host and bores into a valve of the mollusc (or the plates of the barnacle). [2] Its tunnelling activities weaken the shell, and scallop and oyster farmers consider the sponge to be a pest. When burrowing, it secretes acid which dissolves the shell, and then it breaks off small pieces of shell and moves them to the exterior. [2] When it outgrows its tunnels, it spreads across the surface of the valve as a thick coating layer, and when it gets too big for its host, it becomes a free-living sponge with a length of up to 9 cm (3.5 in) and a height of 6.5 cm (2.6 in). [3] These sponges are common growing on the thick-shelled giant rock scallop (Crassadoma gigantea) and on oysters. [2] The sponge is preyed on by the nudibranch Doriopsilla albopunctata . [2]

Related Research Articles

Shipworm Family of molluscs

The shipworms are marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae: a group of saltwater clams with long, soft, naked bodies. They are notorious for boring into wood that is immersed in sea water, including such structures as wooden piers, docks and ships; they drill passages by means of a pair of very small shells borne at one end, with which they rasp their way through. Sometimes called "termites of the sea", they also are known as "Teredo worms" or simply Teredo, from the Greek τερηδώνteredōn, via Latin. Eventually biologists adopted the common name Teredo as the name for the best-known genus.

Bivalvia Class of molluscs

Bivalvia, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. Bivalves as a group have no head and they lack some usual molluscan organs like the radula and the odontophore. They include the clams, oysters, cockles, mussels, scallops, and numerous other families that live in saltwater, as well as a number of families that live in freshwater. The majority are filter feeders. The gills have evolved into ctenidia, specialised organs for feeding and breathing. Most bivalves bury themselves in sediment where they are relatively safe from predation. Others lie on the sea floor or attach themselves to rocks or other hard surfaces. Some bivalves, such as the scallops and file shells, can swim. The shipworms bore into wood, clay, or stone and live inside these substances.

Scallop Common name for several shellfish, many edible

Scallop is a common name that is primarily applied to any one of numerous species of saltwater clams or marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families within the superfamily Pectinoidea, which also includes the thorny oysters.

<i>Teredo navalis</i> Species of bivalve

Teredo navalis, commonly called the naval shipworm or turu, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Teredinidae. This species is the type species of the genus Teredo. Like other species in this family, this bivalve is called a shipworm, because it resembles a worm in general appearance, while at the anterior end it has a small shell with two valves which is adept at boring through wood.

<i>Cliona celata</i> Species of sponge

Cliona celata, occasionally called the red boring sponge, is a species of demosponge belonging the family Clionaidae. It is found worldwide. This sponge creates round holes up to 5 millimetres (0.20 in) in diameter in limestone or the shells of molluscs, especially oysters. The sponge itself is often visible as a rather featureless yellow or orange lump at the bottom of the hole.

<i>Tridacna crocea</i> Species of bivalve

Tridacna crocea, the boring clam, crocus clam, crocea clam or saffron-coloured clam, is a species of bivalve in the family Cardiidae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region. It is occasionally found in the aquarium trade where it is often simply referred to as crocea.

<i>Doriopsilla albopunctata</i> Species of gastropod

Doriopsilla albopunctata, the white-spotted sea goddess, is a species of dorid nudibranch, a colorful sea slug, in the family Dendrodorididae. It is native to the Pacific Coast of North America, from Mendocino County, California south, possibly to Baja California Peninsula, Mexico.

<i>Macoma nasuta</i> Species of bivalve

Macoma nasuta, commonly known as the bent-nosed clam, is a species of bivalve found along the Pacific Ocean coast of North America. It is about 6 cm (2.4 in) long. It is often found buried in sands of 10–20 cm (3.9–7.9 in) in depth. This rounded clam has no radial ribs. Archaeological data supports the use of this species by Native Americans such as the Chumash peoples of central California.

<i>Leukoma staminea</i> Species of bivalve

Leukoma staminea, commonly known as the Pacific littleneck clam, the littleneck clam, the rock cockle, the hardshell clam, the Tomales Bay cockle, the rock clam or the ribbed carpet shell, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Veneridae. This species of mollusc was exploited by early humans in North America; for example, the Chumash peoples of Central California harvested these clams in Morro Bay approximately 1,000 years ago, and the distinctive shells form middens near their settlements.

<i>Chlamys varia</i> Species of mollusc

Chlamys varia, common name the variegated scallop, is a species of small scallop, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pectinidae, the scallops. It occurs in the North Sea, the English Channel, the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea.

<i>Euvola ziczac</i> Species of bivalve

Euvola ziczac, or the zigzag scallop, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Pectinidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from North Carolina to the West Indies and Bermuda.

<i>Chlamys hastata</i> Species of bivalve

Chlamys hastata, the spear scallop, spiny scallop or swimming scallop, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Pectinidae found on the west coast of North America from the Gulf of Alaska to San Diego, California. A limited number of these scallops are harvested by divers or by narrow trawls off the west coast of Canada.

<i>Pododesmus patelliformis</i> Species of bivalve

Pododesmus patelliformis, the ribbed saddle-oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Anomiidae. It is found in the north east Atlantic Ocean.

<i>Serpula vermicularis</i> Species of annelid worm

Serpula vermicularis, known by common names including the calcareous tubeworm, fan worm, plume worm or red tube worm, is a species of segmented marine polychaete worm in the family Serpulidae. It is the type species of the genus Serpula and was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae. It lives in a tube into which it can retract.

<i>Crassadoma</i> Genus of bivalves

Crassadoma is a genus of rock scallops, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Pectinidae. It is monotypic, the only species being Crassadoma gigantea, the rock scallop, giant rock scallop or purple-hinge rock scallop. Although the small juveniles are free-swimming, they soon become sessile, and are cemented to the substrate. These scallops occur in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

<i>Chlamys rubida</i> Species of bivalve

Chlamys rubida is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Pectinidae found on the west coast of North America from the Gulf of Alaska to San Diego, California.

<i>Ostrea equestris</i> Species of bivalve

Ostrea equestris, commonly known as the crested oyster or horse oyster, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Ostreidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North and South America, ranging from Virginia to Patagonia.

<i>Cliona viridis</i> Species of sponge

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.

Limatula hodgsoni is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Limidae, the file shells or file clams. It is native to the seas around Antarctica.

Mycale adhaerens, the purple scallop sponge, is a species of marine demosponge in the family Mycalidae. Mycale is a large genus and this species is placed in the subgenus Aegogropila making its full name, Mycale (Aegogropila) adhaerens. It grows symbiotically on the valves of scallop shells and is native to the west coast of North America.

References

  1. 1 2 van Soest, Rob (2010). "Cliona californiana de Laubenfels, 1932". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cowles, Dave. "Cliona californiana (de Laubenfels, 1932)". Invertebrates of the Salish Sea. Walla Walla University. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  3. Light, Sol Felty (2007). The Light and Smith Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates from Central California to Oregon. University of California Press. p. 113. ISBN   978-0-520-23939-5.