Jane Fromont | |
|---|---|
| Born | Phyllis Jane Fromont |
| Alma mater | James Cook University |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | A taxonomic study of tropical marine sponges (Porifera: Demospongiae: Haplosclerida and Petrosida) using morphological, chemical and reproductive character sets) (1990) |
| Author abbrev. (zoology) | Fromont |
Phyllis Jane Fromont is a New Zealand and Australian scientist specialising in sponges.
Fromont was raised in Whanganui, New Zealand, the youngest of six children. She became interested in marine biology after scuba diving in Northland, and completed a Bachelor of Science degree that included some marine biology papers at the University of Auckland. She then undertook her overseas experience for about two years, before arriving in Perth, Western Australia, where she found work with an environmental consultancy firm and was a volunteer at the Western Australian Museum with curator of marine invertebrates, Loisette Marsh. After attending a workshop in Melbourne on sponges led by Patricia Bergquist and Felix Wiedenmayer, she was encouraged by Bergquist to return to Auckland for postgraduate study. [1] She earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Auckland in 1985, with her thesis titled Poecilosclerida of New Zealand, [2] and while there published papers with Bergquist. [3] She followed this with a PhD (A taxonomic study of tropical marine sponges (Porifera: Demospongiae: Haplosclerida and Petrosida) using morphological, chemical and reproductive character sets) from James Cook University, completed in 1990, with her supervisor being Patricia Bergquist. [4]
Following her PhD, Fromont worked for the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences, continuing to publish on sponges (Porifera). [5] [6] By 1994, she was affiliated not only with James Cook University, but also with the Queensland Museum, and continuing to publish work on the sponges of the Great Barrier Reef, [7] and on chemical relationships helping to define the taxonomy of sponges. [8] In 1996, she was awarded a three-year Australian Biological Resources Study scholarship and moved to the Aquatic Zoology department of the Western Australian Museum, also undertaking part-time curatorial work there. Three years later, she was appointed curator. [9] As of 2021 [update] , she continues to work there. [10] [11]
A search on her name at WoRMS reveals (March 2022) she has authored over 100 sponge taxa.
Taxa named in her honour include the sponges, Anthotethya fromontae , [14] Clathria fromontae , [15] and Erylus fromontae, [16] and the extinct Western Australian brachiopod, Cirpa fromontae . [17] [18]
Fromont has authored over 90 scientific publications, including her most cited article, Assessing the complex sponge microbiota: core, variable and species-specific bacterial communities in marine sponges. [19] In 2021, she, together with Loisette Marsh, received a commendation at the Whitley Awards, for their field guide, Field Guide to the Shallow Water Seastars of Australia. [20] [21]
Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include greater than 90% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide. They are sponges with a soft body that covers a hard, often massive skeleton made of calcium carbonate, either aragonite or calcite. They are predominantly leuconoid in structure. Their "skeletons" are made of spicules consisting of fibers of the protein spongin, the mineral silica, or both. Where spicules of silica are present, they have a different shape from those in the otherwise similar glass sponges. Some species, in particular from the Antarctic, obtain the silica for spicule building from the ingestion of siliceous diatoms.
Dame Patricia Rose Bergquist was a New Zealand zoologist who specialised in anatomy and taxonomy. At the time of her death, she was professor emerita of zoology and honorary professor of anatomy with radiology at the University of Auckland.
Polymastia aurantia is a species of sea sponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is found in intertidal habitats including tide pools in the vicinity of Auckland, New Zealand.
Poecilosclerida is an order of the demosponge class. It is the most speciose demosponge order with over 2200 species. It contains about 25 recognised families. They are characterised by having chelae microscleres, that is, the minute spicules scattered through the tissues, usually in the 10-60 μm range, have a shovel-like structure on the end.
Thorectidae is a family of sea sponges in the order Dictyoceratida.
Caulospongia biflabellata, commonly known as the western staircase sponge, is a species of sea sponge belonging to the family Suberitidae. It is a marine sponge of the temperate waters of Australia.
Cymbastela lamellata is a species of marine sponge in the family Axinellidae.
Dragmacidon australe is a species of sponge in the family, Axinellidae.
Acanthella dendyi is a marine sessile filter-feeder sponge in the family Dictyonellidae, first described by Patricia Bergquist in 1970 as Phakellia dendyi
Svenzea is a genus of sponges belonging to the family Scopalinidae, first described in 2002.
Clathria hillenburgi, also known as Clathria (Axosuberites) hillenburgi, is a species of sea sponge in the family Microcionidae. It is endemic to the coast of Brazil.
Plakortis fromontae is a species of marine sponge in the order Homosclerophorida, first described in 2011 by Guilherme Muricy. The species epithet, fromontae, honours Jane Fromont.
Amphimedon lamellata is a species of sponge in the family Niphatidae, first described by Jane Fromont in 1993, from a specimen collected at a depth of 9 m, from Macgillivray Reef, Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef.
Amphimedon paraviridis is a species of sponge in the family Niphatidae, first described by Jane Fromont in 1993, from a specimen collected at a depth of 7 m, in Geoffrey Bay, Magnetic Island, in the Great Barrier Reef.
Manihinea lynbeazleyae is a genus of deep-water sea sponge in the Theonellidae family, first described by Jane Fromont and Andrzej Pisera in 2011, from a specimen collected in the Perth canyon west of Rottnest Island at a depth of 194–232 m.
Haliclona djeedara is a demosponge, first described by Jane Fromont and David Abdo in 2014. The species epithet, djeedara, means "brown" in Nyoongar.
Pipestela terpenensis is a species of sponge belonging to the family Axinellidae.
Xestospongia bergquistia is a species of barrel sponge in the family Petrosiidae first described by Jane Fromont in 1991. The species epithet, bergquistia, honours the New Zealand sponge specialist, Patricia Bergquist.
Michelle Kelly, also known as Michelle Kelly-Borges, is a New Zealand scientist who specialises in sponges, their chemistry, their evolution, taxonomy, systematics, and ecology.
Robertus Wilhelmus Maria (Rob) van Soest, born in 1946, is a Dutch marine biologist. He works at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and is also affiliated with the University of Amsterdam. He co-authored with John N. A. Hooper Systema Porifera: A Guide to the Classification of Sponges, a standard reference for sponge classification.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
