finger or pipe sponge Haliclona dancoi

Haliclona dancoi is found throughout Antarctica and the South Orkney Islands from 9 to 2,267 meters depth [1,2,3,7]. H. dancoi is finger-like, cylindrical, or tubular with an excurrent opening at the top (oscule) [1,3]. The surface of H. dancoi is minutely bristled or covered with many conules [3]. H. dancoi color is white, light gray, straw, yellow or brown [3,4]. H. dancoi exudes mucus when collected [4].

Haliclona dancoi is commonly seen, being 1.1% of the benthic surface cover and 0.2% of the sponge biomass at a Cape Armitage site [4]. H. dancoi is seen in the third benthic zone of Cape Armitage below 33 meters depth [4].

H. dancoi is relatively fast growing with observed mean growth rates of 4.8 centimeters in one year, 5.5 centimeters in two years, 11.5 centimeters in three years, 22.0 centimeters in six years, and 21.1 centimeters in ten years [6]. Maximum size is approximately 35 centimeters [6].

Santia charcoti, a one millimeter long isopod, is widely distributed on the body surface of H. dancoi [11]. Santia charcoti is a specialized guest on this sponge, probably grazes on the sponge, and is generally found in such large numbers only on this sponge; its presence can be used to identify H. dancoi from other similar sponges [11].

A cerithiopsid gastropod Krachia antarctica can be found at the base of H. dancoi, and grazes on the sponge for food [11].


Predators of Haliclona dancoi include the seastars Odontaster meridionalis, Acodontaster hodgsoni, Perknaster fuscus antarcticus (when juvenile), and Acodontaster conspicuus and the nudibranch Doris kerguelenensis [4]. An extract from H. dancoi has antibacterial and antiyeast activity [5].

H. dancoi may host diatoms within its food-capturing cells that line the passages through which the sponge circulates water; these endobiont diatoms live by consuming carbohydrates produced by the sponge and also by photosynthesis [8]. This symbiotic adaptation by the diatoms enhances their survival in the low light levels found down deep under the ice (as well as the dark months of winter) [8].

Taxonomic Note: In 2002, Haliclona was divided into six subgenera, but species were not assigned to the subgenera [10]. An older name Reniera scotti was synonymized by Koltun under Haliclona dancoi in 1966; H. dancoi used in Hooper and Wiedenmayer and later [2,3,8,9].

1: B.A.N.Z. Antarctic Research Expedition, 1929-1931, under the command of Sir Douglas Mawson, Kt., O.B.E., B.E., D.Sc., F.R.S., Reports -- Series B (Zoology and Botany). Volume 9, part 4. Porifera -- Part 1: Antarctic Sponges. VM Koltun. Adelaide : Mawson Institute for Antarctic Research, University of Adelaide, 1976; 2: Hooper, JNA & Wiedenmayer, F. Porifera. IN: Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 12. Wells, A, ed. Melbourne : CSIRO Australia, 1994; 3: Sponges of the Antarctic. I. Tetraxonida and Cornacuspongida. VM Koltun. IN: Biological Reports of the Soviet Antarctic Expedition, 1955-1958 (Rezultaty Biologicheskikh Issledovanii Sovetskoi Antarkticheskoi Ekspeditsii, 1955-1958). Volume 2. EP Pavlovskii, ed. Jerusalem : Israel Program for Scientific Translations. 1966. pp.6-131; Appendix, Index of Latin Names on pp. 443-448; 4: Ecological Monographs 44(1):105-128, 1974; 5: Antarctic Science 4(2):179-183, 1992; 6: Biologie des Spongiaires, Sponge Biology. C Levi and N Boury-Esnault, eds. Colloques Internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Number 291. Paris : Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1979. pp.271- 282; 7: Polar Biology 12:559-585, 1992; 8: Biological Bulletin 198:29-33, 2000; 9: Ross Sea Ecology : Italiantartide Expeditions (1987- 1995). FM Faranda, L Guglielmo, A Ianora, eds. Berlin : Springer, 2000. pp. 551- 561; 10: Systema Porifera. JNA Hooper and RWM Van Soest. New York: Kluwer, 2002; 11: Polar Biology 26(5):342-347, 2003

inv216 ID as Haliclona scotti (Kirkpatrick, 1907) (Haplosclerida, Chalinidae) by Walentina de Weerdt and Rob van Soest (provided without specimens for checking microscopic details). Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs © Norbert Wu. Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Norbert Wu. Norbert Wu no longer grants permission for uncompensated use of his photos under any circumstances whatsoever; want more info?