sponge Asbestopluma aff. lycopodina

Asbestopluma aff. lycopodina Lundbeck, 1905 (Poecilosclerida, Cladorhizidae) is the white stalked sponge.

Sponges of the genus Asbestopluma (and other genera in the deep-water cladorhizid sponges) are different from other sponges in their anatomy and feeding habits; they do not have a water circulating system, with cells to circulate water [1,3].

Asbestopluma sponges are carnivorous feeders, trapping small prey less than one millimeter in size, like crustaceans [1,3]. Asbestopluma sponges have raised hook-like spicules on their filaments which are sticky like Velcro for trapping swimming crustaceans [1,3]. The trapped crustaceans struggle while the Asbestopluma sponge extends epithelial cells and new filaments over its prey, enveloping it within a day, and digesting it within a few days [3].

The Asbestopluma genus has approximately 27 species , which can be arranged by a character scheme into three groups, one of which is Lycopodina (some Asbestopluma species contain a mixture of characters of these groups) [1,2]. Lycopodina group characters are: lateral branches or filaments arising all around the body axis, no stalk coating, and no sigma [1,2].

This unusual modification from typical sponge filter feeding has elements of cnidaran and foraminiferan functionality, involving passive capture of living prey and nutrient transfer into the body through cell migrations [3]. Cladorhizid sponges including Asbestopluma are typically found in deep-water, with one species occuring in a shallow-water cave [3]. Their feeding strategy may be an adaptation to a food-scarce (oligotrophic) environment, with low particle concentrations and/or relatively still water [3].



Here's a view for size perspective, of these Asbestopluma sponges surrounding the brown saguaro sponge Phorbas areolatus.



In McMurdo Sound, Asbestopluma sponges are found hanging down from rocks [4].

At left and also in the bottom middle of this photo taken on the wall south of Cape Evans at 24 meters depth, you can see Asbestopluma sponges [5].

1: Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturells de Belgique. Biologie 66 (suppl):109-115, 1996; 2: Porifera, Part II. Desmacidonidae (pars.). W Lundbeck. Danish Ingolf- Expedition. Volume 6(2). Copenhagen : Bianco Luno, 1905; 3: Nature 373(6512):333-335, 1995; 4: Bill Baker, personal communication, 2003; 5: Luke Hunt, personal communication, 2003 (80 feet deep on Cape Evans wall)

Asbestopluma aff. lycopodina ID by Walentina de Weerdt and Rob van Soest (provided without specimens for checking microscopic details). Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Luke Hunt & Norbert Wu. Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Luke Hunt & Norbert Wu. Norbert Wu no longer grants permission for uncompensated use of his photos under any circumstances whatsoever; want more info?