Australian freshwater sponges with a new species of Pectispongilla (Porifera: Demospongiae: Spongillida) (original) (raw)
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We present additional taxonomic descriptions, with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) illustrations, field observations documented by colour photographs, and notes on habitats and ecology of Corvospongilla ultima (Annandale), Eunapius crassissimus (Annandale), Stratospongilla bombayensis (Carter), S. gravelyi (Annandale) and S. indica (Annandale) from recent sponge collections made in western Maharashtra, India. Stratospongilla gravelyi is rediscovered after a century, and along with it, C. ultima and S. indica are illustrated with SEM images for the first time, unequivocally differentiating these two species. Additional taxonomic, ecological data and illustrations of Corvospongilla lapidosa (Annandale), Dosilia plumosa (Carter), Ephydatia meyeni (Carter), Eunapius carteri (Bowerbank) and Radiospongilla cerebellata (Bowerbank) are also provided to supplement the previously published SEM illustrations. All ten spongillid species treated here were originally described from India and three of them are known to be endemic to the Indian region. Present study is the first re-examination of these Indian spongillid species using SEM, providing greater resolution of their important taxonomic characters and careful documentation of their habitats.
We report the presence of five freshwater sponges in ephemeral and permanent fresh water bodies in and around Pune, Maharashtra, India. Field observations, descriptive notes, habitus photographs and SEM photographs of body spicules, gemmule spicules and gemmules of five species are provided. Eunapius carteri (Bowerbank, 1863), Radiospongilla cerebellata (Bowerbank, 1863) and Corvospongilla lapidosa (Annandale, 1908) are commonly occurring species, whereas Ephydatia meyeni (Carter, 1849) and Dosilia plumosa (Carter, 1849) are rarely found. This report fills a longstanding gap in observations of freshwater sponges near Pune, and it is heartening to note that species reported earlier are still found in these environs.
Porifera (sponges) of Mermaid, Scott and Seringapatam Reefs, north Western Australia
Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement, 2009
A quantitative survey documenting the diversity and abundance of sponges at Mermaid, Scott and Seringapatam Reefs, north Western Australia, was conducted in September 2006. Four reef habitats (fore reef slope, channel, lagoon and intertidal reef flat) were surveyed by recording numbers of sponge individuals on replicate transects, providing baseline data of sponge species present and their abundance. In total 132 sponge species were recorded from these reefs. The majority of the species found (79) were unique to one of the reefs, with only 14 species found at all three reefs. A clear difference in the composition of the sponge assemblages between Mermaid and Scott Reefs was detected, which appears to be strongly influenced by the presence of infrequently recorded (rare) species. Intertidal reef flat habitats had lower species richness than subtidal habitats (<3 species at intertidal stations compared to between 6-21 species at subtidal stations). Channels were distinct from other subtidal habitats and were characterized by high abundances of a few common species. Over half of the species found in the study were rare with 56% having five or fewer individuals recorded from all locations in the study. This is the first documentation of the sponge fauna from these reefs and only the second study to date to examine the sponges found on the oceanic reefs off north Western Australia.
Invertebrate Systematics , 2002
Ten reefs off the Sunshine Coast, south-eastern 153.2°E), Australia, were sampled from 1991 to 2000. They were found to contain a rich fauna of 247 species of marine sponges (Porifera) in 97 genera, 44 families and 14 orders, with 51% of species not yet recorded elsewhere from the Indo-west Pacific, representing a highly unique fauna in this biogeographic transition zone between the Solanderian and Peronian provinces. Reefs were relatively heterogeneous in species richness (18-83 species/reef, mean 41 species/reef), despite equivalent collection effort, and were highly heterogeneous in taxonomic composition (34% mean 'apparent endemism'/reef), with only 15 species co-occurring in more than five reefs. Sixty per cent of species were 'rare' (found only on single reefs) and only 19% of species co-occurred in the adjacent Moreton Bay region. Gradients in species richness and taxonomic composition were not correlated with the distance between reefs or their latitude and only partially correlated with their distance from the shore, but they were highly correlated when sites were combined on the basis of both distance from shore and latitude. Two southern outer reefs (5.5-9 km from the coast) and four northern inner reefs (0.5-1.25 km from the coast) had highly distinctive faunas (richness and taxonomic composition), with a gradual gradient of dissimilarities for reefs intermediate between these two groups of sites, similar to sponge faunal patterns from other studies conducted at much larger spatial scales. One southern outer reef, Flinders Reef, was anomalous compared with the general regional fauna. Flinders Reef had low species richness, the highest taxonomic distinctness and the least heterogeneity in terms of taxonomic composition at species, genus and family levels, with affinities closer to the southern Great Barrier Reef than to the Sunshine Coast or Moreton Bay reefs. This finding is significant because Flinders Reef is the only designated highly protected marine area outside of Moreton Bay and is allegedly representative of the marine biodiversity of the whole region, yet contains few of the sponge genetic resources of the region, which has implications for the design and scale of marine reserves. Family-level taxa were poor surrogates of species diversity. Factors potentially responsible for spatial heterogeneity of sponge faunas between groups of reefs are discussed, including gradients in water quality (light, turbidity, siltation) and requirements for habitat specialisation by some species.
2017
Umborotula bogorensis (Weber, 1890) is a freshwater sponge species that is recorded occasionally, mainly on islands and peninsulas of Australasia. Less than 10 records with morphological descriptions and illustrations have been published so far, and the most recent record is dated 1978. A list of the few voucher specimens from museum collections is provided here together with the rich unpublished Sasaki collection from Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, recently deposited in a Japanese museum. The present new record from Northeast Thailand enlarges the geographic range of U. bogorensis to the Indochina mainland. A comparison of historical data vs present Thai records is performed by morpho-analysis(SEM) as well as biogeographic, ecological and climatic data. Results show low variability in shape and size of the diagnostic morphotraits in populations scattered over the wide geographic range. Here we also formally accept the new taxonomic status (rank elevation) of the previous suborder Spongi...
The Sponge Gardens of Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia
The Open Marine Biology Journal, 2010
Preliminary results from biodiversity surveys in the deeper waters of Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia revealed that while much of the area is composed of sediments and rhodolith fields with low densities of macroepibenthos, locally dense and extensive filter feeding communities exist. They were distinctly dominated by demosponges, both in biomass and diversity. A subsample of dominant taxa determined by fresh weight yielded 155 different demosponge species from over 350 transects between 18-102 m depth. Data from three successive years of sampling indicated that only a few species were ubiquitous, suggesting that as minor species are identified the cumulative species list will significantly exceed the present species record. This implies greatly enhanced biodiversity values associated with Ningaloo Marine Park, complementing records attributed to the shallow coral reef environment. The richness of the observed filter feeding communities adds additional weight to the increasing perception of Australia as a global hotspot for Porifera biodiversity.