Ophlitaspongia papilla

Ophlitaspongia papilla
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Porifera
Class:	Demospongiae
Order:	Poecilosclerida
Family:	Microcionidae
Genus:	Ophlitaspongia
Species:	O. papilla
Binomial name
	Ophlitaspongia papilla; Bowerbank, 1866 [1]
Synonyms [1]
	Chalina seriata(sensu Johnston, 1842); Chalinula seriata (Grant, 1826); Clathria seriata (Johnston, 1842); Halichondria seriata Johnston, 1842; Ophlitaspongia seriata (Johnston, 1842);

Last updated April 29, 2019

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.

Demospongiae is 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.

Microcionidae is a family of marine demosponges.

The osculum is an excretory structure in the living sponge, a large opening to the outside through which the current of water exits after passing through the spongocoel. Wastes diffuse into the water and the water is pumped through the osculum carrying away with it the sponge's wastes. Sponges pump large volumes of water; in general, a volume of water equal to the sponge's body size is pumped every five seconds. The size of the osculum is regulated by contractile myocytes. Its size, in turn, is one of the factors which determines the amount of water flowing through the sponge. It can be closed completely in response to excess silt in the water.

Description

Ophlitaspongia papilla forms small encrusting patches seldom more than 5 cm (2 in) across on boulders and rocks. It is very thin and flat with a smooth shiny surface. The oscula are well-defined and regularly distributed, each having a small collar with a slightly raised edge. The colour of this sponge is blood red.^[2]

Distribution and habitat

Ophlitaspongia papilla occurs in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, its range extending from the British Isles to the Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira. It is also known from New Zealand waters.^[1] It normally occupies a zone between the average high water mark of neap tides and 2 m (6 ft 7 in) below the average level low water of spring tides. It is occasionally found at slightly greater depths encrusting the shells of bivalve molluscs such as Chlamys opercularis . It tends to be found in areas with high water movement, either from currents or the action of waves, and is usually found under overhangs, on vertical walls, in crevices or on ledges.^[3]

The Canary Islands is a Spanish archipelago and the southernmost autonomous community of Spain located in the Atlantic Ocean, 100 kilometres west of Morocco at the closest point. The Canary Islands, which are also known informally as the Canaries, are among the outermost regions (OMR) of the European Union proper. It is also one of the eight regions with special consideration of historical nationality recognized as such by the Spanish Government. The Canary Islands belong to the African Plate like the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, the two on the African mainland.

The Azores, officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores, is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal. It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean about 1,360 km (850 mi) west of continental Portugal, about 1,643 km (1,021 mi) west of Lisbon, in continental Portugal, about 1,507 km (936 mi) northwest of Morocco, and about 1,925 km (1,196 mi) southeast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Madeira, officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira, is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the north Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Portugal. Its total population was estimated in 2011 at 267,785. The capital of Madeira is Funchal, which is located on the main island's south coast.

Life cycle

Larvae are liberated by Ophlitaspongia papilla over a period of about a month in late summer. These initially swim upwards, rotating as they swim, and remain at the surface. Most later swim downwards and descend to the substrate where they can creep about before metamorphosis takes place some 24 to 36 hours after liberation, but some metamorphose on the surface. Mortality is high in widely-separated individuals but lower when several undergo metamorphosis close together as these individuals subsequently coalesce into fused masses. It is possible that these masses could be formed by larvae from different sponge populations. The result may be equivalent to cross-fertilisation within a common envelope and result in an enlarged gene pool and the efficient production of genetic diversity.^[3]

Larva juvenile form of distinct animals before metamorphosis

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.

Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Metamorphosis is iodothyronine-induced and an ancestral feature of all chordates. Some insects, fishes, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, cnidarians, echinoderms, and tunicates undergo metamorphosis, which is often accompanied by a change of nutrition source or behavior. Animals that go through metamorphosis are called metamorphoses. Animals can be divided into species that undergo complete metamorphosis ("holometaboly"), incomplete metamorphosis ("hemimetaboly"), or no metamorphosis ("ametaboly").

The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species.

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References

1 2 3 van Soest, Rob (2014). "Ophlitaspongia papilla Bowerbank, 1866". World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2015-01-01.
↑ Barrett, John; Yonge, Charles Maurice (1958). Collins Pocket Guide to the Sea Shore. Collins & Co. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-00-219321-4.
1 2 D. J. Crisp (1971). Fourth European Marine Biology Symposium. Cambridge University Press. pp. 155–178. ISBN 978-0-521-08101-6.

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[WoRMS-1] 1 2 3 van Soest, Rob (2014). "Ophlitaspongia papilla Bowerbank, 1866". World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2015-01-01.

[Barrett-2] Barrett, John; Yonge, Charles Maurice (1958). Collins Pocket Guide to the Sea Shore. Collins & Co. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-00-219321-4.

[Crisp-3] 1 2 D. J. Crisp (1971). Fourth European Marine Biology Symposium. Cambridge University Press. pp. 155–178. ISBN 978-0-521-08101-6.