Porifera represents the very basic form of multicellular organisms (Srivastava et. al 2010) and is categorised into three main classes; Hexactinellida, Calcarea and Demospongiae (Ruppert, Fox & Barnes 2004). The purple-pink encrusting Demospongiae sponge discussed on this webpage is part of the family Chalinidae and has been identified as part of the genus Haliclona. It was located at Shark Bay on Heron Island and the genus Haliclona is common along the coast of Australia (Soest 2012).
The organisation of cells that form the body of Porifera is specialised for filter feeding (Ruppert, Fox & Barnes 2004). A short term project on the feeding strategies of Haliclona spp. was conducted on Heron Island. The project investigated the effects of different sized algae on the consumption of food particles in Haliclona spp. The results displayed an effect of particle size on the sponge’s ability to filter the algae.
Including the report from the project on Heron Island located under Life History & Behaviour this website will provide information on the distribution, ecology, life history, behaviour, physiology and phylogenetics of the sponge Haliclona spp.
Heron Island, Queensland, Australia.
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