Field Observations of Sponge Reactions as Related to Their Ecology

Storr, John F.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-327950-7.50023-3

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…The management system has modified historical freshwater deliveries, decreasing the relative contribution of overland and groundwater flows, replacing these by canals that release large amounts of freshwater over short periods of time. These patterns of release lower the salinity in adjacent areas drastically and have caused the rapid mortality of marine species like sponges (Storr, 1976;Knight and Fell, 1987;Montague and Ley, 1993). This pattern of concentrated point releases has created restricted near-shore environments that are unavailable to corals and sponges and are largely dominated by tolerant species like the seagrass Halodule wrigthii (Cropper et al, 2001;Lirman and Cropper, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Coral communities of Biscayne Bay, Florida and adjacent offshore areas: diversity, abundance, distribution, and environmental correlates

Lirman

Orlando

Maciá

et al. 2003

Aquatic Conservation

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ABSTRACT1. Hardbottom habitats of Biscayne Bay, a shallow lagoon adjacent to the city of Miami, Florida, USA, contain a limited number of coral species that represent a small subset of the species found at nearby offshore hardbottom and reef habitats of the Florida Reef Tract. Although the physical characteristics of this basin make it a marginal environment for coral growth, the presence of dense populations of Siderastrea radians and Porites furcata indicate that these, as well as other corals that are found at lower densities, are able to tolerate extreme and fluctuating conditions. Three factors, temperature, sedimentation, and salinity, appear to limit coral abundance, diversity, and distribution within Biscayne Bay.2. Temperatures exhibit high frequencies of extreme high and low values known to cause coral stress and mortality elsewhere. Similarly, sedimentation rates are very high and sediment resuspension caused by currents, storms and boating activities commonly bury corals under sediment layers. Sediment burial was shown experimentally to influence growth and mortality of S. radians.3. The salinity of Biscayne Bay is influenced by freshwater inputs from canal, sheetflow and groundwater sources that create a near-shore environment with low mean salinity and high salinity fluctuation. Coral communities along this western margin have the lowest coral density and species richness. Chronic exposure to low salinity was shown experimentally to cause a decrease in the growth of S. radians.4. The location of Biscayne Bay, downstream of a large restoration effort planned for the Everglades watershed, highlights the need to understand the relationship between the physical environment and the health of benthic communities. The data presented here provide the type of scientific information needed so that management decisions can take into account the potential impacts of human activities on the health of coral populations that are already near their tolerance limits for temperature, salinity, and sedimentation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Coral communities of Biscayne Bay, Florida and adjacent offshore areas: diversity, abundance, distribution, and environmental correlates

Lirman

Orlando

Maciá

et al. 2003

Aquatic Conservation

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“…the reef top or shallow lagoons), indicate that contraction plays an additional ecological role in unloading sediment from the sponge body (data not shown). This is in conjunction with the observation that sponges can use reverse currents for 'backwashing' of blocked canals (Simpson, 1984;Storr, 1979). Since the flow direction during contraction has not yet been determined for T. wilhelma, we cannot exclude the occurrence of backwashing during contraction.…”

Section: Mechanisms and Functions Of Contractionsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Kinetics and rhythm of body contractions in the spongeTethya wilhelma(Porifera: Demospongiae)

Nickel

2004

Journal of Experimental Biology

122

121

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SUMMARY Sponges of the species Tethya wilhelma display rhythmic body contractions, which were analyzed by digital timelapse imaging and semi-automated image analysis. For the first time, differential, quantitative data on sponge behaviour could be obtained. The sponges are able to reduce their body volume by up to 73.3% during regular contractions. Each contraction cycle follows a characteristic pattern of four phases, permitting analysis of the kinetics of contraction and expansion. Long-term observations (for >7 days) reveal that the sponge contractions display a day-night periodicity in which contraction cycles are significantly longer during the dark hours. The contractions seem to be mediated by the pinacoderm; they are triggered locally and spread over the sponge surface at 12.5 μm s-1. If two individuals of a clone are fused, the individual contraction rhythm of both sponges persists for several days, until a single new individual sponge is formed with a synchronized rhythm. The reported results and techniques establish T. wilhelma as a model organism for research on the development of aneural signal transduction and integration during early Metazoan evolution.

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“…Regeneration rates were comparable to rates in plexaurid gorgonians (Lang da Silveira & van 't Hof 1977, Wahle 1983 and in a variety of encrusting reef organisms (Jackson & Palumbi 1979, Bak et al 1981, Palumbi & Jackson 1982, but fast compared to regeneration in the overwhelming majority of scleractinian corals , Bak & Stewart van Es 1980but see Bak 1983). Storr (1976) found a 3 d regeneration period for undefined lesions in a sponge species, reported as I. strobilina, in the Gulf of Mexico. In contrast, in the present study I. strobilina needed ca 1 wk to form the characteristic black scar and another 3 w k to recover normal appearance of the ectosome.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth, regeneration and predation in three species of large coral reef sponges

Hoppe¹

1988

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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To understand differences in survival strategies in 3 large Caribbean sponges, Neofibularia nolitangere, Ircinia strobilina and Agelas clathrodes, growth rates, regeneration efficiencies and aspects of predation were studied. All 3 species showed irregular and unpredictable growth in situ with wide variations in growth rate (including temporal shrinkages) within and among species. I. strobilina, but not the other species, grew more rapidly in the vertical than the horizontal direction. I. strobilina was the slowest growing, while N. nolitangere showed the highest growth rate and volume increase. Larger individuals of I. strobilina and A. clathrodes increased more slowly in volume than smaller ones; such a relation was not found for N. nolitangere. Linear growth rates of 0.7 to 2.4 cm yr-' for these sponges are similar to rates reported for other sessile reef organisms such as gorgonians and scleractinian corals. All 3 species regenerated all lesions efficiently. There was spatial differentiation in regeneration rates: top lesions in N. nolitangere and lateral lesions in I. strobilina regenerated faster than other lesions. Initial closure of the lesion by scar tissue was completed within 1 wk in I. strobilina, but N. nolitangere was the first to show total regeneration (minimum of 5 wk). A. clathrodes showed the slowest and most uniform regeneration rate. Predation by Pomacanthinae (angelfishes) occurred only on N. nolitangere. Force-feeding pieces of I. strobilina appeared to cause paralysis and narcosis; forcefed A. clathrodes appeared to irritate the feeding tracts of the fishes. By their remarkable regeneration capacity and effective anti-predatory mechanisms these sponges appear to be well adapted to the dynamic reef environment.

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Field Observations of Sponge Reactions as Related to Their Ecology

Cited by 19 publications

References 1 publication

Coral communities of Biscayne Bay, Florida and adjacent offshore areas: diversity, abundance, distribution, and environmental correlates

Coral communities of Biscayne Bay, Florida and adjacent offshore areas: diversity, abundance, distribution, and environmental correlates

Kinetics and rhythm of body contractions in the spongeTethya wilhelma(Porifera: Demospongiae)

Growth, regeneration and predation in three species of large coral reef sponges

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