Spatial variability in abundance and size of sponges are poorly understood compared with other sessile organisms such as corals. A hierarchical survey design across 3 spatial scales — sites nested in locations nested in island groups — examined variation in sponge size and abundance for the common coral reef sponge Coscinoderma matthewsi (Lendenfed, 1886) (Demospongiae: Dictyoceratida) in Torre...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory RNAs that are involved in many biological process in eukaryotes. They play a crucial role in modulating genetic expression of their targets, which makes them integral components of transcriptional regulatory networks. As sponges (phylum Porifera) are commonly considered the most basal metazoan, the in-depth capture of miRNAs from these organisms provides ...

A new species of the palaemonid shrimp genus Typton Costa, 1844, Typton fapespae sp. nov., is described based on several specimens collected in Ubatuba and São Sebastião, northern coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Most specimens were found in association with sponges, including Mycale (Zygomycale) angulosa (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (Demospongiae: Mycalidae); however, one paratype ...

We present a review of astrophorid species possessing calthrops megascleres as structural megascleres (including species with dichotriaene modifications, but excluding mesotriaene and trichotriaene bearing species). Radiating oxeas characteristic of most astrophorids are lacking in such sponges, but auxiliary oxeas are apparently present in some species. These sponges are currently assigned to ...

Two species, one each of Abyssocladia Lévi, 1964, and Asbestopluma Topsent, 1901, are recorded from the far eastern Solomon Islands for the first time. Abyssocladia lakwollii sp. nov. is characterized by the pedunculate disc-shape of the body, the unusually large size of the isochelae I microscleres, and by the shape of the cleistochelae with crossed central teeth. Asbestopluma (A.) desmophora ...

It is acknowledged that marine invertebrates produce bioactive natural products that may be useful for developing new drugs. By exploring untapped geographical sources and/or novel groups of organisms one can maximize the search for new marine drugs to treat human diseases. The goal of this paper is to analyse the trends associated with the discovery of new marine natural products from inverteb...

Ten new species of demosponges, assigned to the orders Poecilosclerida, Axinellida and Dictyoceratida, discovered in the Gulf of Alaska and along the Aleutian Island Archipelago are described and compared to relevant congeners. Poecilosclerida include Cornulum globosum n. sp., Megaciella lobata n. sp., M. triangulata n. sp., Artemisina clavata n. sp., A. flabellata n. sp., Coelosphaera (Histode...

BACKGROUND Homoscleromorpha is the fourth major sponge lineage, recently recognized to be distinct from the Demospongiae. It contains <100 described species of exclusively marine sponges that have been traditionally subdivided into 7 genera based on morphological characters. Because some of the morphological features of the homoscleromorphs are shared with eumetazoans and are absent in other sp...