Spheciospongia vesparium
| Spheciospongia vesparium | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Spheciospongia vesparium | ||||||||||||
| Lamarck , 1815 | ||||||||||||
| Subspecies | ||||||||||||
|
Spheciospongia vesparium is a cylindrical, amorphous sponge when it was young . It is common in the Caribbean and in the western central Atlantic off the coast of the USA.
features
The black surface of Spheciospongia vesparium , which appears leathery due to the inclusions of spongins , can only be compressed a little. Spheciospongia belongs to the horned silica sponges , the skeleton of which is formed by silicified particles . These give the sponge its firmness so that it can rise up between the corals like a beehive. Young specimens are found on sand or gravel as a crust-like black coating with several crater-shaped elevations on which the oscula (flow openings ) are located. Older sponges of this type form cylindrical to spherical, 30 cm to over a meter high structures with only one or two large, thick-lipped atria from which the water flows. In addition, there are numerous areas with small oscula as inflow openings on the entire surface. Inside, Spheciospongia vesparium is dark gray in color. The specific epithet vesparium describes the shape of the sponge, like a large wasp nest .
Spheciospongia anchors itself in the substrate by dissolving the limestone base. This is done chemically, but mostly mechanically, by removing microscopic limescale flakes. This can cause streaks to form in the lime, and the sponge can take up a large area. Because of the size of older specimens, it is considered the largest sponge in the Guinness Book of Records .
distribution
Spheciospongia vesparium is distributed throughout the Caribbean and the western Atlantic in the coral reefs at a depth of 2 meters to 18 meters. Often only its occurrence in the waters off the West Indies and Florida is mentioned. The finds off the coasts of Central and South America , for example Panama and Belize , were often viewed as separate species and named with synonyms .
habitat
With the depth at which Spheciospongia vesparium occurs, the composition of the fauna living in the sponge can also vary. Some species of this fauna, especially small fish, only occur within the sponge, others, for example different types of hoppers, leave it from time to time through the oscula, but always stay close. In the event of danger, you can quickly get back into the sponge through the openings. It offers the animals protection and provides them with food through its constant flow of water.
Glass-hard, pointed skeletal needles, the spicula, protect the sponge from predators . While the sponge is deadly to coral reef fish that accidentally ingest it as food, it can be digested by the Caribbean hawksbill sea turtle ( Eretmochelys imbricata imbricata ). Spheciospongia vesparium is one of the food sources for these reef sea turtles.
credentials
- ↑ http://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/295237
- ↑ http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=170566
- ↑ Guinness Book of Records 1984, p. 47
- ↑ E. Westinga and PC Hoetjes: The intra sponge fauna of Spheciospongia vesparia (Porifera, Demospongiae) at Curacao and Bonaire . Marine Biology, 62, 2-3, Springer, Berlin 1981 Abstract ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Anne Meylan: Spongivory in Hawksbill Turtles: A Diet of Glass. Science, New Series, 239, 4838, pp. 393-395, Jan. 22, 1988 abstract
literature
- Werner Baumeister and Maren Baumeister: Marine fauna of the Caribbean and Florida. Ulmer Naturführer, Ulmer 2005, p. 35. ISBN 978-3-8001-4164-7 .
Web links
- Spheciospongia vesparium at sealifbase.org
- Spheciospongia vesparium at World Porifera Database
- Spheciospongia vesparium at The Sponge Guide (description, English, with photos)