| Monanchora arbuscula | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Porifera |
| Class: | Demospongiae |
| Order: | Poecilosclerida |
| Family: | Crambeidae |
| Genus: | Monanchora |
| Species: | M. arbuscula |
| Binomial name | |
| Monanchora arbuscula Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Monanchora arbuscula is a species of marine demosponge in the family Crambeidae.
Monanchora arbusula is an encrusting or bushy demosponge which is dark red or bright scarlet on its inside and its surface. It forms either a low or tall mass, and individual organisms can have a bush, round, or fan shape. Its has scattered openings (oscula) which are surrounded by a white collar in a star-like pattern. These collars are formed from exhalant canals which can sometimes not be seen. There are a few oscula which are on the ends of short tube-shaped lobes, and there are many knobs (lamellae) along the surface. [1] [2]
Often, specimens will have different combinations of kinds of spicules which attach them to their medium. When certain specimens lack one or more of these types of spicule, identifying them becomes problematic. [1] For example, while encrusting specimens have fine filaments of roughly tylostyle spicules, bushy specimens have a central mesh of spicules which are surrounded by spongin. [2]
When taken out of the water, the exhalant canals collapse, and their red-orange interior color disappears. When handled, it will stain human skin because of the soft consistency of its tissue. The interior skeleton, however, is very tough. [2]
At the time of its description, the basionym PandarosarbusculumDuchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 was first used to name the species. [3] It has also been described under the erroneous synonyms Monanchora barbadensisHechtel, 1969 and M. unguiferade Laubenfels, 1953. [1]
Monanchora arbuscula is found in brackish waters and is associated with reefs. It is found at depths of 2–58 m (6.6–190.3 ft) in tropical environments of the Western Atlantic. It may encrust different species in shallow reefs, such as dead corals, mollusc shells, and gorgonian axes. It can also be found on hard substrate on the bottom, or in mangrove ponds. [2]
As a species of demosponge, Monanchora arbuscula is hermaphroditic. It begins its life cycle as a zygote, which develops into a free-swimming larva. The larva lands on substrate and begins growing into a juvenile sponge there. [2]
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.
Demosponges are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% 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.
Anheteromeyenia argyrosperma is a freshwater sponge found across North America.
Spicules are structural elements found in most sponges. Sponge spicules are made of calcium carbonate or silica. Large spicules visible to the naked eye are referred to as megascleres, while smaller, microscopic ones are termed microscleres. The meshing of many spicules serves as the sponge's skeleton and thus it provides structural support and potentially defense against predators. The composition, size, and shape of spicules are major characters in sponge systematics and taxonomy.
The black stink sponge, is a species of sea sponge in the family Irciniidae. This sponge is known around the Australian coast and around South Africa from the Cape Peninsula to Cape Agulhas.
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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.
Ophlitaspongia papilla is a species of demosponge belonging to the family Microcionidae. It is found along north-eastern Atlantic coastlines. This is a red sponge which forms thin, smooth encrusting patches, up to 5 cm across, with regularly spaced oscula.
Agelas is a genus of sea sponge in the class Demospongiae.
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.
Aplysina insularis, commonly known as the yellow-green candle sponge or yellow candle sponge, is a species of sea sponge found on reefs in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
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).
Neopetrosia proxima is a species of marine petrosiid sponge native to the tropical and subtropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean.
Crambe crambe, commonly known as the oyster sponge or orange-red encrusting sponge, is a species of demosponges belonging to the family Crambeidae.
Agelas dispar is a species of demosponge in the family Agelasidae. It lives on shallow-water reefs in the Caribbean Sea and around the West Indies.
Hymeniacidon kitchingi is a species of sponge in the class Demospongiae. It is found in shallow waters in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. This species was first described in 1935 by the British zoologist Maurice Burton. He placed it in a new genus because of its unusual spicules, and named it Rhaphidostyla kitchingi, in honour of Dr J. A. Kitching, who had collected the original specimen. It was later transferred to the genus Hymeniacidon.
Halisarca caerulea is a species of sponge in the family Halisarcidae. It is native to the Caribbean Sea and was first described in 1987 by the French marine biologists Jean Vacelet and Claude Donadey.
Spirastrella coccinea is a species of marine sponge in the family Spirastrellidae. It is found in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico.
Oscarella tuberculata is a species of sponge in the order Homosclerophorida. It is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, where it forms encrusting colonies on rocks and other hard surfaces.
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