Four species of marine sponges were collected from Davies Reef at 4 - 9m depths. Four biological replicates of each of Carteriospongia foliascens, Cliona orientalis, Coscinoderma matthewsi, Ircinia ramosa, Pericharax heteroaphis, and Stylissa flabelliformis were placed into separated plastic bags filled with seawater and brought to the surface. Following collection, part of the tissue from each specimen was immediately preserved in 70% ethanol for species classification and the remaining tissue was snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen. Following sample preparation the LC-MS/MS spectrometry data were processed and annotated following the EMP method Computational methods for Release 2 and the EMP Multi-omics project (EMP500). Available from: https://github.com/biocore/emp/blob/master/methods/methods_release2.md. The mass spectra and the spectral matching results are accessible with the Metabolomics USI interface using the GNPS job ID and the corresponding MF id (e.g., X4151 corresponds to the scan/cluster number 4151). The computational annotations of putative small peptides, which can be classified as level 2/3 annotation (putative/partial structure) based on MSI standards [59], were performed using the DEREPLICATOR algorithm v.1.2.8 Mass spectrometry data were deposited on the MassIVE public repository under the accession MSV000083475. See Zhang et al. 2022 for futher details.

The endofaunal assemblages associated with two species of sponge from the family Chalinidae (Haliclona sp. 1 and Haliclona sp. 2) were studied at four locations (Bremer Bay, Hamelin Bay, Rottnest Island, and Jurien Bay) during the Australian summer (December-March) of 2005/2006. The volume of each sponge was determined using underwater stereo camera, endofauna were counted and weighed and internal space of each host sponge was measured.

The objective is to synthesize published information on sponge distributions and biodiversities in North-West Australia, with an additional focus on extracting data from Western Australian Museum (WAM) specimen databases and collections, and analysing and collating these datasets to provide an overall synthesis of the sponge faunal biodiversity and distributions of the NW.

Specimens of the marine sponge Rhopaloeides odorabile (class Demospongiae; order Dictyoceratida; family Spongiidae) were collected from Davies Reef and Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef (3 from each location).Molecular techniques were employed to document the microbial diversity associated with the marine sponge Rhopaloeides odorabile.The phylogenetic affiliation of sponge-associated bacteria was assessed by 16S rRNA sequencing of cloned DNA fragments. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to confirm the presence of the predominant groups indicated by 16S rDNA analysis. Novel media incorporating sponge extracts were used to isolate bacteria not previously recovered from this sponge.A radial cladogram was constructed showing the diversity of bacterial clone sequences from R. odorabile. Neighbor-joining phylogenetic trees were constructed from analyses of: 823 bp of 16S rRNA gene sequence included 34 clones for which unique sequence was obtained;709 bp of 16S rRNA gene sequence from clones clustering with the Actinobacteria;804 bp of 16S rRNA gene sequence from clones clustering within the predominantly g-Proteobacteria;811 bp of 16S rRNA gene sequence from clones clustering with green nonsulfur bacteria and d-Proteobacteria;305 bp of 16S rDNA sequence obtained from organisms cultured using sponge extract media.Branches were also found using the Fitch-Margoliash and maximum parsimony methods. The effects of using actinomycete-selective media supplemented with sponge extract on total number and the number of novel bacterial morphotypes isolated from R. odorabile were measured. Medium preparations were: marine agar 2216; starch-casein agar; Emerson agar; raffinose-histidine agar; M31 Casamino Acids agar; actinomycete isolation agar; yeast-malt extract agar; and glycerol-asparagine agar. The effects of stress, including copper exposure and elevated sea temperatures on the sponge microbial community were assessed. These impacts cause a distinct shift in the microbial community including a move away from symbiosis towards disease-causing microbes.Community structure included representatives of the Actinobacteria, low-GC Gram-positive bacteria, the b- and g-subdivisions of the Proteobacteria, Cytophaga/Flavobacterium, green sulfur bacteria, green nonsulfur bacteria, planctomycetes, and other sequence types with no known close relatives. The study aimed to investigate the diversity of the total bacterial community within the sponge R. odorabile.

This study investigated the changes occurring in the functional potential of the microbiome of two marine sponge species living in low pH, "acidified" waters and adjacent (~ 500m away) ,"control" waters, at shallow coral reefs CO2 seep sites in Papua New Guinea. Field work was carried out in the Milne Bay Province in the d'Entrecasteaux Channel in Papua New Guinea at a depth of 5m. Control site GPS coordinates: 9.828217 S 150.820517 E, Seep site GPS coordinates: 9.8241 S 150.825833 E. Three samples of each of two sponge species were collected. The species were Coelocarteria singaporensis and Stylissa flabelliformis. These particular species were chosen based on a previous study (Morrow et al., 2015) characterizeing the microbial communities of the 2 species at these particular field sites. Sample size of three samples per species was chosen based on the following criteria: 1) minimizing impact on the field site 2) accounting for statistical testing sample size requirements 3) space availability for storage in the field and during transport 4) cost (temporal and financial) of sample processing and sequencing Environmental data were collected over multiple expeditions as well as via remote loggers. Data was collected in August-2010, January 2013 and betweek December 2011-April 2014. For more information on environmental data for this study, please see Supplementary tables 3, 3 and 4. Microbial functions of the two sponge species of the seep and control sites were compared, including transport of carbon and host derived compounds, carbon fixation and carbonic anhydrase, nitrogen and sulfur metabolism.

Algae and cyanobacteria form symbioses with many marine sponges, converting energy from the sun to donate to their host, and promoting sponge survival, growth and reproduction. These little-studied symbioses are similar to those between algae and coral, and make a significant contribution to the health of reefs in both tropical and temperate regions. This project will investigate the importance of photosynthetic symbionts in sponges in temperate and tropical regions, their host specificity and diversity. It will map photosynthetic symbiont biogeography and environmental preferences, contributing to an understanding of processes affecting the ecology of coastal reefs.

The objective is to synthesize published information on sponge distributions and biodiversities in North-West Australia, with an additional focus on extracting data from Western Australian Museum (WAM) specimen databases and collections, and analysing and collating these datasets to provide an overall synthesis of the sponge faunal biodiversity and distributions of the NW.

Identification of significant concentrations of sponges in the Gulf of St. Lawrence biogeographic unit using Kernel density estimation (KDE). This method was applied to create a modelled biomass surface for each taxa and an aerial expansion method was permitted to identify significant concentrations. Only geo-referenced biomass data have been used to identify the “hot spots”. The borders of the areas were refined using knowledge of null catches and species distribution models. Predictive models were produced using a random forest machine-learning technique. For more details, please refer to this report: Kenchington, E., L. Beazley, C. Lirette, F.J. Murillo, J. Guijarro, V. Wareham, K. Gilkinson, M. Koen Alonso, H. Benoît, H. Bourdages, B. Sainte-Marie, M. Treble, and T. Siferd. 2016. Delineation of Coral and Sponge Significant Benthic Areas in Eastern Canada Using Kernel Density Analyses and Species Distribution Models. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2016/093. vi + 178 p. http://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/40577806.pdf The present layer only contains the analysis results for sponges. Purpose: As part of the Canada's commitment to the identification and protection of sensitive benthic marine ecosystems, maps of the location of significant concentrations of corals and sponges on the east coast of Canada were produced through quantitative analyses of research vessel trawl survey data, supplemented with other data sources where available. The taxa analyzed are sponges (Porifera), large and small gorgonian corals (Alcyonacea), and sea pens (Pennatulacea). However, only the sponges (Porifera) and sea pens (Pennatulacea) have been considered in the analysis concerning the Gulf of St. Lawrence biogeographic unit.

A one-off study of the effects of handling on Coscinoderma mathewsi around Masig (Yorke) and Kodall (off Masig) Islands. Experimental work was carried out in 2009.Measurements of growth (cm) and survival were made to determine how handling might affect sponge growth and survival under aquaculture conditions. To determine how handling under aquaculture condiditons might affect sponge growth and survival in Coscinoderma mathewsi.