slimy sponge Mycale acerata

Mycale (Oxymycale) acerata is found throughout Antarctica and South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Georgia Island, Falkland Islands, Bouvet Island, Chile, Argentina, Kerguelen Island, and Macquarie Island from 10 to 761+ meters depth [1,3,4,12,14,18,19].

The body of M. acerata is globular, sometimes cup-shaped, and crumbles easily [4,11,13].


The color of Mycale (Oxymycale) acerata can be white, beige, brown, pale yellow, yellow, yellowish brown, greenish, or gray [4,8,10,13,17]. The surface of M. acerata can have low conical papillae or be almost smooth [4].

M. acerata can be massive, up to 1.5 meters high and 1.75 meters in diameter [7,9].



Here the ascidian Cnemidocarpa verrucosa is perched on Mycale (Oxymycale) acerata.

M. acerata has a relatively high growth rate. One individual increased its volume 40% in seven years and then grew little afterwards; another grew 63% in one year and did not grow further for nine years [9].



A fast-growing Mycale (Oxymycale) acerata has a white, delicate texture after which it may develop a greenish or tan colored leathery surface which becomes fouled by diatoms, hydroids, ascidians , anemones, and the bush sponge Homaxinella balfourensis [9,17].

M. acerata has been collected completely covering a polychaete worm tube [17].


Mycale (Oxymycale) acerata is commonly seen in the third benthic zone of Cape Armitage below 33 meters depth, being 1.1% of the benthic surface cover and 2.4% of the sponge biomass at a site there [6].

The eggs of M. acerata can be seen with the naked eye in younger individuals [9]. M. acerata is often found with yellow or orange larvae at its base [8].

Here Mycale (Oxymycale) acerata is shown partially consumed with the orange soft coral Alcyonium antarcticum in the middle and at right.

Predators of M. acerata include the seastars Odontaster meridionalis, Acodontaster conspicuus, and Perknaster fuscus antarcticus, and the nudibranch Doris kerguelenensis [6]. When disturbed, M. acerata produces a copious amount of slime [6,8].

An extract from M. acerata has antibacterial and antiyeast activity [2].

Taxonomic Note: In 2002, Mycale (Oxymycale) acerata was placed in an Oxymycale subgenus [5]. Earlier authors might have it in an Oxymycale genus [3,12,15,16].

1: B.A.N.Z. Antarctic Research Expedition, 1929-1931, under the command of Sir Douglas Mawson, ..., 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: Antarctic Science 4(2):179-183, 1992; 3: Hooper, JNA & Wiedenmayer, F. Porifera. IN: Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 12. Wells, A, ed. Melbourne : CSIRO Australia, 1994; 4: 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; 5: Systema Porifera. JNA Hooper and RWM Van Soest. New York: Kluwer, 2002; 6: Ecological Monographs 44(1):105-128, 1974; 7: Berichte zur Polarforschung, Reports on Polar Research 286, 1998; 8: Antarctic Science 4(2):137-150, 1992; 9: 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; 10: Instituto Antartico Chileno. Serie Cientifica 39:97-158, 1989; 11: Ross Sea Expeditions 1987-1988 and 1989- 1990, Straits of Magellan Expedition 1991, Data Report Part 3, Physical, Chemical and Biological Oceanography. F Faranda and L Guglielmo, eds. Genova : Repubblica Italiana, Ministry of the University and Scientific and Technological Research, National Scientific Commision for Antarctica, 1994. pp.67-100; 12: Polar Biology 12:559-585, 1992; 13: Les Demosponges du Plateau Continental de Kerguelen-Heard. N Boury-Esnault & M Van Beveren. CNFRA Number 52, 1982. Paris : Comite National Francais pour les Recherches Antarctiques; 14: Boletin de la Sociedad de Biologia de Concepcion 58:39-66, 1987; 15: Tethys 6(3):631-653, 1974; 16: Antarctic Science 7(3):227-234, 1995; 17: Tethys Supplement 4:9-24, 1972; 18: Polar Biology 20(4):229-247, 1998; 19: Polar Biology 29(2):83-96, 2006

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Canadian Museum of Nature (Kathleen Conlan), Jim Mastro, & Norbert Wu. Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Canadian Museum of Nature (Kathleen Conlan), Jim Mastro, & Norbert Wu. Norbert Wu no longer grants permission for uncompensated use of his photos under any circumstances whatsoever; want more info?