carnivorous
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...
demosponge
Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide (World Porifera Database). They are sponges with a soft body that covers a har ...
Cladorhizidae
Cladorhizidae is a family of demosponges which are carnivorous and prey on crustaceans and other small animals. They are deep sea sponges typically found on oceanic ridges and seamount systems. As of 2017, nine new species have been discovered ...
junior synonym
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...
, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 named species are placed in this genus at present, but at least two additional undescribed ones are known to exist, while some of the described ones are known only from a few specimens or (e.g. the enigmatic ''
Chondrocladia occulta
''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous demosponges of the family Cladorhizidae. '' Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 named species are placed in this genus at present, ...
'') just a single one, and their validity and/or placement in ''Chondrocladia'' is doubtful. ''Chondrocladia'' sponges are stipitate, with a stalk frequently anchored in the substrate by rhizoids and an egg-shaped body, sometimes with branches that end in inflatable spheres.Fossils assignable to this genus are known since the Pleistocene, less than 2 million years ago. But given its deep seahabitat, ''Chondrocladia'' may well have been around for much longer – perhaps since the Mesozoic, as characteristic spicules (termed "microcricorhabds" or "trochirhabds"), almost identical to those of some living ''Chondrocladia'', are known from Early Jurassic rocks almost 200 million years old.
Carnivory
These sponges gained media attention when a new species, a gourd-shaped carnivorous sponge, was featured in reports of finds off the coast of Antarctica. The new ''Chondrocladia'' was one of 76 sponge species identified in the seas off Antarctica by the
Antarctic Benthic Deep-Sea Biodiversity Project
The ''Antarctic Benthic Deep-Sea Biodiversity Project (ANDEEP)'' is an international project to investigate deep-water biology of the Scotia and Weddell seas. Benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of wat ...
(ANDEEP) between 2002 and 2005, conducted aboard the German research vessel '' Polarstern''.
Carnivorous sponges, which use hooked spicules to capture small crustaceans, have been known only since 1995, when ''
Asbestopluma hypogea
''Asbestopluma'' is a genus of sponges belonging to the family Cladorhizidae.
The genus has cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the wor ...
'', another genus of the family Cladorhizidae, was identified in Mediterranean sea caves offshore La Ciotat ( France) by
Jean Vacelet
Jean Vacelet is a French marine biologist who specialises in the underwater fauna of the Mediterranean. After earning his licence at the Faculté des Sciences de Marseille and learning to dive in 1954, he specialised in the study of sponges at th ...
and
Nicole Boury-Esnault
Nicole Boury-Esnault is a retired French researcher of sponges, formerly at Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille, Aix-Marseille University.
Research
In 1995, Nicole Boury-Esnault and Jean Vacelet discovered a species of carnivorous sponges of t ...
. Carnivory has since turned out to be common and typical for this sponge family. Unlike their relatives, ''Chondrocladia'' still possesses the water flow system and choanocytes typical of sponges, albeit highly modified to inflate balloon-like structures that are used for capturing prey.
Species
The known species of ''Chondrocladia'' are:
* ''
Chondrocladia albatrossi
''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous demosponges of the family Cladorhizidae. '' Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 named species are placed in this genus at present, ...
'' Tendal, 1973
* ''
Chondrocladia amphactis
''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous demosponges of the family Cladorhizidae. '' Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 named species are placed in this genus at presen ...
Chondrocladia concrescens
''Chondrocladia concrescens'' (formerly ''Cladorhiza concrescens'') is a species of deep-sea carnivorous sponge in the family Cladorhizidae. It is commonly known as the "ping pong tree sponge" due to its distinctive tree-like shape with multiple ...
'' (Schmidt, 1880)
* ''
Chondrocladia crinita
''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous Demospongiae, demosponges of the family (biology), family Cladorhizidae. ''Neocladia (sponge), Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 ...
Chondrocladia levii
''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous demosponges of the family Cladorhizidae. '' Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 named species are placed in this genus at presen ...
'' Cristobo, Urgorri & Ríos, 2005
* ''
Chondrocladia lyra
''Chondrocladia lyra'', also known as the lyre sponge or harp sponge, is a species of carnivorous deep-sea sponge first discovered off the Californian coast living at depths of by Welton L. Lee, Henry M Reiswig, William C. Austin, and Lonny Lun ...
'' Lee ''et al.'', 2012
* ''
Chondrocladia magna
''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous demosponges of the family Cladorhizidae. '' Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 named species are placed in this genus at presen ...
Chondrocladia occulta
''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous demosponges of the family Cladorhizidae. '' Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 named species are placed in this genus at present, ...
'' (Lehnert, Stone & Heimler, 2006)
* ''
Chondrocladia pulvinata
''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous demosponges of the family Cladorhizidae. '' Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 named species are placed in this genus at presen ...
Kelly
Kelly may refer to:
Art and entertainment
* Kelly (Kelly Price album)
* Kelly (Andrea Faustini album)
* ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap
* "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland
* ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...
& Schlacher-Hoenlinger, 2009
* ''
Chondrocladia turbiformis
''Chondrocladia turbiformis'' is a recently discovered species of carnivorous sponge.
References
Animals described in 2009
turbiformis
{{demosponge-stub ...
Chondrocladia verticillata
''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous Demospongiae, demosponges of the family (biology), family Cladorhizidae. ''Neocladia (sponge), Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 ...
'' Topsent, 1920
* ''
Chondrocladia virgata
''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous demosponges of the family Cladorhizidae. '' Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
33 named species are placed in this genus at presen ...
Monanchora
''Monanchora'' is a genus of demosponges belonging to the family Crambeida. The genus contains 18 species, which have been researched for their potential use in medicine.
Description
Morphology
The species with in ''Monanchora'' vary in th ...
''.
''C. dura'', ''C. ramosa'' and ''C. sessilis'' are
junior synonym
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...