Ecology
Adult sponges are benthic animals located on the ocean floor (Lee et al. 2001; Ruppert, Fox & Barnes 2004). Similar to a majority of sponge’s Haliclona spp. is located in coral reef systems (Lee et al. 2001) and being an encrusting sponge it is found on the underside of boulders in crevices (Ruppert, Fox & Barnes 2004). Due to the protection living under a boulder provides Haliclona spp. shares its habitat with a variety of other marine invertebrates the most common being ascidians, annelids, bryozoans and other species of sponge (Jackson & Winston 1982).
As well as living amongst a variety of invertebrates sponges have a variety of microorganisms living on and in them. A large range of sponges display symbiotic relationships with microorganisms of archaea, heterotrophic bacteria, cyanobacteria, dinoflagellates and diatoms (Lee et al. 2001). Sponges provide nourishment and shelter (Bultel-Ponce et al 1999; Lee et al. 2001) while the microorganisms provide the sponge with a variety of benefits such as;
· Aiding with nutritional processes (Wilkinson & Fay 1979; Wilkinson & Garrone 1980),
· stabilising the skeleton (Wilkinson et al. 1981) and
· Producing toxins to defend the sponge against grazers.
Although the species of the sponge is unknown a study on another Haliclona spp. sponge on Heron Island in 1998 showed a symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellates (Garson et al. 1998). |