African freshwater sponge

African freshwater sponge
Systematics
Class :	Horned Silica Sponges (Demospongiae)
Subclass :	Ceractinomorpha
Order :	Haplosclerida
Subordination :	Spongillina
Family :	Freshwater sponges (Spongillidae)
Type :	African freshwater sponge
Scientific name
	Eunapius carteri
	( Bowerbank , 1863)

The African freshwater sponge is a type of sponge from the family of freshwater sponges (Spongillidae). The freshwater sponge also became known in Europe after it was probably introduced by aquarists and has also been found in German waters as a neozoon since the 1990s .

description

The African freshwater sponge lives symbiotically with algae and for this reason appears greenish-brown.

The Gemmoskleren ( Sclerite ) are tangentially embedded in several layers, made of thicker tissue with polygonal air pockets. Often a whole group of Gemmoskeleren is embedded together and not each individually. They are slender to stocky, more curved than the megascleras and between 145 and 210 micrometers long. They are clearly covered with curved spines.

The megasclera are stocky, smooth, slightly curved and rarely spiky. They are 265 to 370 micrometers long. Microscera are missing. The buds are flattened and small. They stand individually and distributed or together and form a covering at the base.

The foramen is tubular, straight or sharply curved.

Meaning as a neozoon

The distribution area of the African freshwater sponge is originally in Africa south of the Sahara and in Western Asia to India . There the species lives as a sessile exclusively in inland waters.

Apparently through aquarium cultures, the heat-loving species also found its way into European inland waters . This means that it is classified as a so-called neozoon . The African freshwater sponge was first found in Germany in 1993. The first specimens were also found in Panama around 2008.

In Central Europe, it is mainly found in the cooling water circuits of nuclear power plants , which, due to their elevated temperatures, represent optimal living conditions for the sponges. Because of the cold European winters, E. carteri is severely restricted in its dynamic expansion, which is why it is usually not of great importance as an invasive species .

swell

Unless otherwise stated, the information in the Description chapter is taken from the sources: Kakavipur & Yeragi 2005 and Thorp & Covich 2009.

literature

DK Kakavipure, SG Yeragi: Occurrence of Fresh Water Sponge Eunapius Carteri (Bowerrbank 1863) from Khativali - Vehloli Lake Near Shahapur District - Thane, Maharashtra, India . In: Proceedings of Taal 2007: The 12th World Lake Conference . S. 500–505 (English, pdf ).
James H. Thorp, Alan P. Covich (Eds.): Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates . 3. Edition. Academic Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-12-374855-3 , pp. 456 f . (English, online in the Google book search).

Individual evidence

↑ Peter Rey, Johannes Ortlepp, Daniel Küry: Invertebrate Neozoa in the Upper Rhine . In: Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (ed.): Series of publications environment . No. 380 . Bern 2005 ( pdf ).
↑ S. Nehring: Neozoa (macrozoobenthos) in German waters - an introduction. AeT environmental planning, Koblenz, 2011, accessed on August 25, 2011 .
↑ Thorp & Covich in 2009.
^ Rey & Ortlepp, 2005.

[1] Peter Rey, Johannes Ortlepp, Daniel Küry: Invertebrate Neozoa in the Upper Rhine . In: Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (ed.): Series of publications environment . No. 380 . Bern 2005 ( pdf ).

[2] S. Nehring: Neozoa (macrozoobenthos) in German waters - an introduction. AeT environmental planning, Koblenz, 2011, accessed on August 25, 2011 .

[3] Thorp & Covich in 2009.

[4] Rey & Ortlepp, 2005.