| Cliona delitrix | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Porifera |
| Class: | Demospongiae |
| Order: | Clionaida |
| Family: | Clionaidae |
| Genus: | Cliona |
| Species: | C. delitrix |
| Binomial name | |
| Cliona delitrix Pang, 1973 [1] | |
Cliona delitrix is a species of burrowing demosponge belonging to the family Clionaidae. It is found in shallow water in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
Cliona delitrix is a burrowing sponge that is also encrusting. It usually grows on a massive coral, not only covering its surface but also burrowing into its interior, but is sometimes found on some other calcareous substrate such as a shell or a limestone rock. It does not normally grow on branching corals. It can grow to a diameter of up to a metre (yard) and has several large openings called osculi, 10 to 30 mm (0.4 to 1.2 in) wide, surrounded by projecting rims and many small raised papillae 2 to 5 mm (0.1 to 0.2 in) wide. The colour is usually red or dark orange. [2] [3]
Cliona delitrix is found in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico at depths down to 4 metres (13 ft). Its range extends from Cuba and Mexico south to Venezuela and Brazil. [1] It is abundant in some areas especially where there is organic pollution. [4]
The main corals on which Cliona delitrix grows are Siderastrea siderea , Diploria labyrinthiformis and Montastraea cavernosa . [5] The sponge is a filter feeder, removing bacteria and other organic particles from the current of water sucked in through its many pores by the movement of flagella. There are channels and chambers inside the sponge and the water finds its way through them and exits through the osculi. [2] The zoanthid coral Parazoanthus parasiticus is often found growing on the surface of this sponge. [5]
Cliona delitrix is a hermaphrodite. The male gametes are produced first and get swept out by the water current. If they are sucked into another sponge, fertilisation can take place. The larvae may be brooded for a while inside the sponge but then leave through the osculi and become planktonic. They drift with the current before settling on the seabed. Each one then starts to grows over the surface of whatever it has landed on. It needs calcium to flourish and if it settles on something calcareous like a massive coral, it will secrete acid to dissolve it as well as continuing to grow over the surface. The interior of the coral may be riddled with holes filled with orange spongy material. The sponge kills the part of the coral close to its growing edge. It is an aggressive species and large corals may have the greater part of their surface covered while small individuals may be completely engulfed. [2]
When a massive coral is already dead, the sponge excavates the interior while it colonises the surface, but if encrusting algae are already established on the surface, the sponge's growth is slowed down. In a study off the coast of Colombia, the most favoured host for the sponge was the starlet coral (Siderastrea siderea) and between 6% and 9% of individuals of this species were affected. It is such an aggressive sponge that it is considered likely that, in areas where it is present, branching and foliose corals may come to out-number massive corals in the long term. [4] When a colonised coral dies and crumbles, parts of the sponge in the excavated tunnels may break up and detached pieces may become established in a new location, a form of asexual reproduction. [5]
Atrina rigida, commonly called the rigid pen shell, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Pinnidae.
Spheciospongia vesparium, commonly known as the loggerhead sponge, is a species of sea sponge belonging to the family Clionaidae. While it is highly toxic to many fish, this sponge is eaten by certain angelfish and is known to form part of the diet of the hawksbill sea turtle.
Porites astreoides, commonly known as mustard hill coral or yellow porites, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Poritidae.
Amphimedon compressa, the erect rope sponge, red tree sponge, red tubular sponge, or red sponge is a demosponge found in southern Florida, the Caribbean Sea, and the Bahamas. It can be deep red, orange, brown, or black.
Siderastreidae is a family of reef building stony corals. Members of the family include symbiotic algae called Zooxanthellae in their tissues which help provide their energy requirements.
Umimayanthus parasiticus, commonly known as the sponge zoanthid, is a species of coral in the order Zoantharia which grows symbiotically on several species of sponge. It is found in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
Siderastrea siderea, commonly known as massive starlet coral or round starlet coral, is a stony coral in the family Siderastreidae. It is found in shallow parts of the western Atlantic Ocean as solid boulder-shaped or domed structures.
Siderastrea radians, also known as the lesser starlet coral or the shallow-water starlet coral, is a stony coral in the family Siderastreidae. It is found in shallow parts of the western Atlantic Ocean as small, solid mounds or encrusting sheets.
Agelas schmidti, commonly known as the brown tubular sponge, is a species of demosponge. It occurs at moderate depths in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea and often has a colonial coral growing over the surface. The type locality is Puerto Rico.
Parazoanthus swiftii, commonly known as the golden zoanthid, is a species of coral in the order Zoantharia which grows symbiotically on several species of sponge. It is found in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean.
Iotrochota birotulata, commonly known as the green finger sponge, is a species of sea sponge in the family Iotrochotidae. It is found in shallow waters in the Caribbean Sea.
Neofibularia nolitangere, commonly known as the touch-me-not sponge, is a species of sea sponge in the family Biemnidae. It is found in shallow waters in the Western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Pseudodiploria strigosa, the symmetrical brain coral, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Mussidae. It occurs on reefs in shallow water in the West Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It grows slowly and lives to a great age.
Pseudodiploria clivosa, the knobby brain coral, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Mussidae. It occurs in shallow water in the West Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Mycale laevis, the orange icing sponge or orange undercoat sponge, is a species of marine demosponge in the family Mycalidae. Mycale is a large genus and this species is placed in the subgenus Mycale making its full name, Mycale (Mycale) laevis. This sponge is found in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and usually grows in association with one of a small number of species of coral.
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.
Haliclona caerulea is a species of marine sponge in the family Chalinidae. It is an encrusting tubular sponge that grows anchored on rocky surfaces of coral reefs.
Agelas tubulata is a species of demosponge. It is tube-shaped or vase-shaped and variable in colour. It is found in the Caribbean area and along the coasts of Brazil at depths of between about 70 and 90 m. It was first described by Lehnert & Rob van Soest in 1996, the type location being the Greater Antilles.
Cliona orientalis is a species of demosponge in the family Clionaidae. It occurs in the Indo-Pacific region and is a bioeroding species, with various specialisations for living on and inside calcareous substrates such as massive corals and molluscs.
Andia Chaves Fonnegra is a Colombian marine biologist known for her research on the marine sponge Cliona delitrix.