Porifera of Enewetak Atoll 



Chapter 5 



Compiled by DENNIS M. DEVANEY (deceased) 



Bernice P. Bishop Museum 

 Honolulu. Hawaii 9681 7 



The first sponges reported from Enewetak were based 

 on collections made between 1946 and 1948 from a 

 number of tropical Pacific areas (de Laubenfels, 1954). 

 The Pacific Science Board of the National Research Coun- 

 cil sponsored the collections project. Six of the 13 species 

 recorded from Enewetak were collected by dredging near 

 the center of the lagoon (8 km north of the south 

 anchorage; approximately 11° 29' N, 165° 15' E, de Lau- 

 benfels, 1954) at a depth of 35 m. Another species came 

 from the reef flat, and six were from unrecorded localities. 

 Three new species were recorded from Enewetak, but only 

 one {Lissodendoryx cali/pta) was unique to that atoll. 



Three sponges, each prey for different species of dorid 

 nudibranchs, have also been recorded from Enewetak 

 (Young, 1967). The color, form, and habitat of these 

 sponges were given. 



Beginning in 1972, research was initiated on the 

 biochemistry of Enewetak sponges (Middlebrook et al., 

 1972; Scheuer et al., 1974; Ravi and Scheuer, 1975; 

 Scheuer et al., 1975; Chevolot et al., 1977; Yunker and 

 Scheuer, 1978; Ravi et al., 1979). A sponge from the 

 lagoon was used as a source of radionuclides concentrated 

 in its siliceous spicules (Hurd and Lawson, 1975). 



The need for valid identification of sponges is clearly 

 indicated in research where chemical studies have been 

 made on species that remain undetermined (Chevolot et 

 al., 1977; Yunker and Scheuer, 1978; Ravi et al., 1979). 

 Attempts to get Enewetak sponge material identified have 



resulted in 17 additional sponges receiving preliminary 

 determinations by Klaus Ruetzler (f)ersonal communication, 

 1981). Examples of some or all of these species are de- 

 posited at U. S. National Museum of Natural History 

 (USNM), Mid-Pacific Research Laboratory (MPRL), and the 

 B. P. Bishop Museum (BPBM). Brief descriptions (color, 

 external morphology, colony form) and habitat information 

 on these sponges were prepared by Janet Lamberson for 

 MPRL. The presence of several boring clionid sponges in 

 four selected Enewetak corals has been noted by 

 Highsmith (1981). The boring organisms were the most 

 common infaunal associates of the corals studied, with 

 86% of the corals showing sponge bioerosion effects. 



A calcarean "ear sponge" with fossil affinity collected 

 on the ocean side of Biken (Leroy) is close to Murrai/ona 

 phaneolepis but might be a new sp>ecies (Reutzler, personal 

 communication, 1977). It occurs on the roofs of small 

 caves with sclerosponges, is flattened, and is green in 

 color. Another calcarean spjonge, Neocoelia crypta, and the 

 sclerosponge, Astrosdera u)i//eyana, have also been identi- 

 fied from Enewetak (Basile et al., in press). Kinzie (1973) 

 found sclerosponges in a large crevasse that is considered 

 a very prominent feature on the leeward side of Enewetak 

 Atoll. Two species of sclerosponges were first described 

 from Enewetak, as well as other parts of the tropical 

 Indo-Pacific, by Hartman and Goreau (1975, 1976). 



The Enewetak sponge fauna remains too poorly known 

 at this time to reach zoogeographical conclusions and 

 awaits the work of someone with extensive field and taxo- 

 nomic research experience in the region to clarify the 

 systematics of this fauna. 



The classification scheme herein is based on Berquist 

 (1978). Table 1 is a checklist of Enewetak Porifera. 



TABLE 1 

 Checklist of Porifera at Enewetak Atoll 



Class CALCAREA 

 Subclass CALCINEA 

 Order LEUCELLIDA 

 Family LEUCELLIDAE 

 'Leucetta sp. 

 Subclass PHARETRONIDA 

 Order INOZOA 



Family MURRAYONIDAE 

 'Murravona of. M. phanolepis Kirkpatrick, 1910. 



'New Enewetak record. 



(This table continued on next page.) 



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