Sponges in the environment
–taxonomy, habitat, biological importance,
new knowledge?
Hans Tore Rapp
Department of Biology and Centre for Geobiology, UoB
www.uib.no/geobio
Sponge associations of the north
Atlantic
Foto: E. Svendsen, B. Gulliksen, F.E. Moen.
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Norwegian and Nordic sponges
- including the deep sea
# Published
species,
Norway
Incl.
Unpublished
records
# species Nordic
countries
Ca 270
300++
435++
Cl. Hexactinellida
Schmidt, 1870
Glass-sponges
1
3
Ca 15
Cl. Calcarea
Bowerbank, 1864
Calcareous sponges
15
Ca 40
Ca 70
Cl. Demospongiae
Sollas, 1885
Siliceous and horny
sponges
Ca 255 marine
5 freshwater
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350++
Why such a diverse fauna in
Norwegian/Nordic waters?
• Highly variable substrate
• Deep fjords (down to 1300 m)
• A mixture of southern and northern fauna elements
• Special habitats as coral reefs, sponge grounds, cold seeps, hydrothermal vents,
seamounts, abyssal plains
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Overwiew
.
.
Loki’s Castle
1. Sponge grounds along the Norwegian
coast and shelf
2. Deep water coral reefs
3. Abyssal plane
4. Seamounts along AMOR
5. Hydrothermal vents on the Mohn- and
Knipovich Ridges
6. (Cold seeps/mud volcanos (Nyegga and
HM))
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Special challenges with complex deep-water habitats
Traditional sampling (trawls, sleds, grabs) and/or new tools an methods?
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Boreal sponge grounds
From Tendal and Klitgaard 2004
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“Sponge Garden” of the Traenadjupet
(300 m depth) - Demospongiae
50 cm
80 cm
Stryphnus fortis
G. phlegraei
Geodia barretti
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G. atlantica
Boreo-arctic Geodia:
Geodia barretti
Geodia hentscheli
Geodia phlegraei and
Geodia macandrewi
Geodia atlantica
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G. arctica sp. nov
Boreo-arctic Spirophorida:
Tetilla polyura
Panama (Paper II):
Craniella cf. zetlandica
Craniella infrequens
Craniella sigmoanchorantum
Craniella aff. azorica
Craniella abyssorum
Craniella zetlandica (white)
Craniella cranium (orange)
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Sponge grounds at Tromsøflaket, northern Norway
Klitgaard and Tendal (2004)
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Trawl catch from bottom trawler at Tromsøflaket
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Sponge grounds on Tromsøflaket – the impacts of bottom trawling
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What can the locality tell us?
Possible food sources?
Trondheimsfjord, Norway
Faroe Islands
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Associated bacteria
„Bacteriosponge“ Geodia barretti
Ca. 1010 bact/cm3
Fluorescence
micrograph
2,5 µm
30 µm
TEM micrograph
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Photo: F. Hoffmann
How old are they and can culture give a
indication about growth in cold water sponges?
Geodia barretti
explants
© F. Hoffmann
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Sponge culture
0 days
8 months
20 days
6 days
1 cm
G. barretti – explants during cultivation
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(Hoffmann, Rapp et al 2003)
Growth
What about in situ?
Cumulative weight (%)
50
40
30
20
10
0
-10
0
15
45
100
350
-20
Days
Geodia barretti – weight of explants during cultivation
(Hoffmann, Rapp et al 2003)
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Sponges associated with deep water coral reefs
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Preliminary results – Røst Reef
85%
Hexactinellida
3 species
Demospongiae
Calcarea
46 species
7 species
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Abyssal sponge associations on soft bottoms
>2000 m depth
Species adapted to very soft
substrate
1) Core group of
demosponges:
Thenea abyssorum
Radiella sarsi
Tentorium semisuberites
2) Calcareous sponges
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Abyssal mud flats – deeper than 2000 m
Dominated by ”miniature” sponges, mainly Calcarea (7 of 9 species new
to science)
Borojaevia gen et sp nov
Leucandra sp nov
Grantia sp nov
Clathrina pellucida
Guancha sp
Breitfussia sp nov
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”Ascandra sp nov
Sycon abyssale
Arctic sponge grounds
- mainly Hexactinellida
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Arctic hexactinellid sponge grounds
Scyphidium septentrionale
Schaudinnia rosea
Schaudinnia sp 1
Schaudinnia sp 2
Asconema foliata
Asconema fristedti
Geodia phlegraei
Stelletta raphidiophora
Craniella infrequens
Lissodendoryx complicata
Thenea valdiviae
Hexadella dedritifera
Polymastia thilei
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Hexactinellids in Norwegian and adjacent waters
(ca 20 species)
Pheronema carpenteri (Thompson, 1869)
Aphrocallistes sp.
Hexactinella grimaldii Topsent, 1890
Farrea sp.
Leucopsacus ingolfi Burton, 1928
Sympagella nux Schmidt, 1870
Mellonympha velata (Thompson, 1873)
Mellonympha mortenseni (Burton, 1928)
Caulophacus (Caulophacus) arcticus (Hansen, 1885)
Asconema setubalense Kent, 1870
Asconema foliata (Fristedt, 1887)
Asconema megaatrialia Tabachnick & Meshenina, 2007
megaatrialia nordiense Tabachnick & Meshenina, 2007
Asconema fristedti Tabachnick & Meshenina, 2007
Trichasterina borealis Schulze, 1900
Schaudinnia rosea (Fristedt, 1887)
Anoxycalyx (Anoxycalyx) laceratus Koltun, 1967
Scyphidium septentrionale Schulze, 1900
Euplectella suberea Thompson, 1877
Amphidiscella monai Tabachnick & Lévi, 1997
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Sponges from reducing habitats in the north Atlantic
(hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, mud volcanos)
Many calcareous and
cladorhizid sponges
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Cladorhizidae
Asbestopluma furcata
Forms dense fields along base of
chimneys
Asbestopluma cupressiformis
Abundant throughout the vent field,
also on active smokers
www.uib.no/geobio
Cladorhizidae in Norwegian waters (18-20 species)
Asbestopluma
Asbestopluma comata*
Asbestopluma cupressiformis
Asbestopluma fristedti
Asbestopluma furcata
Asbestopluma hydra*
Asbestopluma infundibulum
Asbestopluma lycopodium
Asbestopluma sp. 1 aff. lycopodium
Asbestopluma cf. lycopodium/occidentalis
Asbestopluma minuta (Davisstredet)*
Asbestopluma pennatula
Chondrocladia
Chondrocladia gigantea
Chondrocladia nobilis*
Cladorhiza
Cladorhiza abyssicola
Cladorhiza corticocancellata
Cladorhiza gelida
Cladorhiza iniquidentata*
Cladorhiza oxeata
Cladorhiza tenuisigma
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What to protect and/or monitor?
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Jan Mayen – a natural laboratory for studying CO2
leakage
•
•
•
•
•
Fluids very rich in CO2
Gas bubbles in a huge area with more diffuse low-temperature flow
Extreme fluctuations in the fauna composition and abundance at Jan Mayen
– periodic variation in CO2 concentration?
Decomposition of organic material seems to be extremely slow
Why do some organisms with carbonate skeletons manage and others not?
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Can the information be used to monitor leakage from
sub-seaflooor CO2 storage?
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How?
Note the
impact of
flying
height!!
1-5 %
1-5 %
Single specimen/rare
??1-5 %
Scattered
10-15 %
Common
High density
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© www.akvaplan.niva.no
Proactima/Repsol
% coverage – of what????
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55
290
20
365
New species described as part of the project: 15-20
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??
__________________________________
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Are all sponge species on the Red list rare?
New locality for Racekiela ryderi…..
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SPONGRAM
Sponge risk assessment and monitoring
Impact studies on sponges
- No general rule for sponges…
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Levels of impact
Sponge diversity: Presence/absence/distribution of
species, size distribution
– NB! Taxonomic reolution needed
Sponge physiology: mortality, clearance rate,
O2 consumption
15cm
Cell physiology: AEC value,
histological control, gene
regulation (e.g. HSP70)
Sponge
microbes:
Microbial
community
pattern
20 µm
2,5 µm
Mortality….
Why is there a difference between natural sediments and drill cuttings?
110
Exposure drill cuttings
100
% survival
90
80
Drill cutting
Sediment
Control
70
60
50
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
days
Survival of sponges (Thenea muricata) after four weeks of exposure with natural sediments, drill cuttings and controls
(sed = 30 mg L-1, TOTAL n = 119)
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Thanks to:
Students and colleagues CGB and Bio/UoB, with a special
«tusen takk» to Paco, Alexander, Marte, Sigfrid and Jon for their contributions
Crew of G.O. Sars
Pilots of ROV Bathysaurus
Kongsberg Maritime
All taxonomists involved
Cruise participants
Teachers at sea program
European Science Foundation (ESF), the EUROCORES Programme EuroMARC
The Norwegian Research Council
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
The Norwegian Deep Sea Program (NDP)
The Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre
Statoil
VISTA (The NDP taxonomy fund)
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