''Arturia canariensis'', commonly known as the yellow calcareous sponge, is a species of sponge in the family Clathrinidae. It is found in shallow seas in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, the Adriatic Sea and the Caribbean Sea. The specific epiphet "canariensis" was given to this species because it was first described from

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...

in the Canary Islands.

Description

''Arturia canariensis'' has a small, lacy structure and is a bright lemon yellow colour. It is an asconoid with many tiny flask-like tubes. Water is drawn in through fine holes near their base, the ostia, moved along by

flagella A flagellum (; ) is a hairlike appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many protists with flagella are termed as flagellates. A microorganism may have f ...

and expelled from the oscula at the top, each osculum being a single exit formed from many fused ascon tubes. The skeleton is composed of large calcareous spicules called

megasclere Spicules are structural elements found in most sponges. The meshing of many spicules serves as the sponge's skeleton and thus it provides structural support and potentially defense against predators. Sponge spicules are made of calcium carbon ...

s, made predominantly of

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

, forming a soft, fragile, supporting network. The whole sponge can grow to in diameter. Small individuals form tufts but larger ones have gentle folds, with oscula along their ridges.

Distribution and habitat

''Arturia canariensis'' is found in the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, the Adriatic Sea and off the coast of Croatia. It is also found on the other side of the Atlantic in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, the Dry Tortugas, Florida and Bermuda. It is usually found at depths between . It grows on shady rock substrates and in caves but its preferred location is the underside of ledges formed by horizontal, plate-like layers of coral. It is often found growing in these locations with coralline algae and bryozoans in a rich, diverse community. In a 2007 survey of sponges off the coast of Georgia, ''Arturia canariensis'' was discovered in

cryptic Cryptic may refer to: In science: * Cryptic species complex, a group of species that are very difficult to distinguish from one another * Crypsis, the ability of animals to blend in to avoid observation * Cryptic era, earliest period of the Earth ...

locations under rocks, in crevices and overgrown by other organisms. This was an extension of its previous known range.

Biology

''Arturia canariensis'' is a

filter feeder Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...

, sieving plankton and other organic material out of the current of water as it passes through the ostia. Both

asexual reproduction Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that does not involve the fusion of gametes or change in the number of chromosomes. The offspring that arise by asexual reproduction from either unicellular or multicellular organisms inherit the fu ...

by budding and sexual reproduction take place in ''Arturia canariensis''. As in other species, each sponge is a

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

Sperm Sperm is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm with a tail known as a flagellum, whi ...

is liberated into the sea and some is drawn into other sponges with the water current that passes through them. Fertilisation is then internal and the eggs are brooded in the ascon tubes of the sponge until they hatch. The free-swimming larvae are expelled through the oscula and disperse with the currents. After a few days they settle on the seabed and develop into juvenile sponges.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q61477509, from2=Q3155668 canariensis Fauna of the Canary Islands Fauna of Cape Verde Fauna of the Atlantic Ocean Fauna of the Adriatic Sea Invertebrates of Europe Animals described in 1868