''Amphimedon queenslandica'' (formerly known as ''Reniera'' sp.) is a

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throu ...

native to the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, A ...

. Its genome has been sequenced. It has been the subject of various studies on the

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

metazoan Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

. ''A. queenslandica'' was first discovered in 1998 on Heron Island Reef by

Sally Leys Sally Leys (Sally Penelope Leys) is a Canadian spongiologist. She is a professor of biology at the University of Alberta where she and her colleagues study sponges in all their aspects including ecology, physiology, their adaptations to a fluid ...

when looking for sponges with larvae to study polarity, and was formally described by John Hooper and

Rob van Soest Robertus Wilhelmus Maria (Rob) van Soest, born in 1946, is a Dutch marine biologist. He works at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum ...

in 2006. Like most sponges it has a biphasic life cycle, passing through a

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cruc ...

ic phase whilst a larva, but later becoming a

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning " ...

dweller. It is hermaphroditic, and reproduces via spermcast spawning, meaning it releases sperm into water but retains eggs, which are fertilised internally. The embryos develop in brood chambers until they reach a certain size, then disperse as

parenchymella Parenchymella is a type of larva of a 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). The ...

larvae. During this larval stage, they have a strong preference for darkness. The sponge is difficult or impossible to maintain in captivity.

Genetics

The

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ...

of ''Amphimedon queenslandica'' was sequenced in 2009 to provide insights into the evolution of animal complexity and was the first sponge to be sequenced. Subsequent research has also sequenced th
genome
of the freshwater sponge ''

Ephydatia muelleri ''Ephydatia muelleri'' is a species of '' Ephydatia''. This species is native to Europe and Northern America. Synonym (basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; th ...

''.

References

Haplosclerina Animals described in 2006 Taxa named by John Hooper (marine biologist) Taxa named by Rob van Soest {{demosponge-stub