Two centuries of sponges (phylum Porifera) taxonomic studies in Indonesia (1820–2021): checklist and bibliography

Abstract

Sponges in Indonesia have been studied since the 19th century during several historical expeditions and international collaborations. Hundreds of new species were reported from various locations, e.g., Ambon, Ternate, Sulawesi, Aru, and Kei Islands. This study aimed to create a sponge (Porifera: Calcarea, Demospongiae, Hexactinellida, and Homoscleromorpha) species checklist from Indonesia based on World Porifera Database. With a total of 731 species, our checklist comprises approximately 45 species of Calcarea, 566 species of Demospongiae, 115 species of Hexactinellida, and five species of Homoscleromorpha. The number of species are recorded from 12 marine ecoregions across the Indonesian Archipelago and freshwater habitats (Spongillida) between 1820–2021. The species composition indicates higher regional endemism or poorly studied since no other report after the original description. However, several marine ecoregions of Indonesia remain highly overlooked (e.g., Northeast Sulawesi, Papua, Southern Java, Western Sumatra), including freshwater habitats. Therefore, a taxonomic biodiversity baseline study, particularly on Porifera, is necessary to better understand the aquatic and marine biodiversity in the Indonesia Archipelago.

Impacts of humic substances, elevated temperature, and UVB radiation on bacterial communities of the marine sponge Chondrilla sp

“…Species of the genus Chondrilla possess a relatively simple skeleton and few spicule types (Usher et al 2004 ). So far, 16 valid Chondrilla species are known worldwide and four have been described from Indonesia, these are Chondrilla australiensis Carter, 1873, Chondrilla grandistellata Thiele, 1900, Chondrilla jinensis Hentschel, 1912, and Chondrilla mixta Schulze, 1877 (Putra et al 2023 ), but neither of them fitted the characters of our species precisely. The outer morphology and skeletal features between species of Chondrilla are very similar and there are only a few characters that can be used to distinguish between species (Fromont et al 2008 ).…”