fan sponge Calyx arcuarius

Calyx arcuarius is found throughout Antarctica, South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands, and South Georgia Island from 16 to 900 meters depth [1,3,8]. The body of Calyx arcuarius is usually flattened and fanlike but it can be cylindrical, gradually thickening near the distal end and shaped like a club (clavate), or split into branches with rounded edges [6,7,8]



Calyx arcuarius always has a hard stalk [6]. C. arcuarius has been collected at sizes up to fifty centimeters high and fifty centimeters across [6,8]. The color of C. arcuarius is white, light gray, beige, light brown, or brown [6,7].



The oscula of Calyx arcuarius are numerous and round and scattered on both sides of the smooth surface of the body [6,7,8].

C. arcuarius is uncommonly seen, being 0.03% of the benthic surface cover at a Cape Armitage site [5].

Four C. arcuarius showed no growth for ten years; another four showed no growth for three years [4].



Here is Calyx arcuarius with a portion of Tetilla leptoderma on the left.

Predators of C. arcuarius include the seastars Odontaster meridionalis and Acodontaster hodgsoni, and the nudibranch Doris kerguelenensis [5]. In the topmost picture, there is a seastar moving onto the base of C. arcuarius and it may well be a predator.



An extract from Calyx arcuarius has antibacterial, antifungal, and antiyeast activity [2].

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: 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: 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; 5: Ecological Monographs 44(1):105-128, 1974; 6: 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; 7: 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; 8: Further Zoological Results of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition 1901-1903. Volume 3, Number 2. Sponges. M Burton. Stockholm : PA Norstedt and Soner, 1934

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 ofCanadian 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?