A new species of carnivorous sponge (Demospongiae: Cladorhizidae) from a Mediterranean cave
Vacelet, J.; Boury-Esnault, N. (1996). A new species of carnivorous sponge (Demospongiae: Cladorhizidae) from a Mediterranean cave. Bull. Kon. Belg. Inst. Natuurwet. Biologie 66(Suppl.): 109-115
In: Bulletin van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen. Biologie = Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique. Biologie. Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen: Bruxelles. ISSN 0374-6429
Also appears in:
Willenz, Ph. (1996). Recent advances in sponge biodiversity inventory and documentation: Proceedings of the 10th Workshop on Atlanto-Mediterranean Sponge Taxonomy, Brussels, April 25-30, 1995. Bulletin van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen. Biologie = Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique. Biologie, 66(Suppl.). Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen: Brussel. 242 pp., more
A cladorhizid sponge which has been shown to be carnivorous, is described as a new species of Asbestopluma, A. hypogea sp. nov. The sponge lives in a Mediterranean cave, 17 to 22 meters deep, between 15 to 60 m inside from the cave opening, in a trapped mass of cold water (13-14.7 °C). Preserved specimens differ significantly in shape from the living ones and variations also occur according to the feeding status. Forceps spicules are present only during spermatogenesis. The nearest species is A. hydra Lundbeck, from the Arctic (1847 and 2394 m).
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy
