September-December, 2012 
SCAMIT Newsletter 
Vol. 31 Nos. 3-4 
Dave started out talking about the “Sponge Book”, as it is afFeetionately known (“The Sponges 
of California. A Guide and Key to the Marine Sponges of California”). It started out as an on-line 
database and then turned into a hard eopy publieation at the request of funders. 
Next he went on to diseuss the Oregon Marine Porifera Projeet. In Oregon, large logs loose from 
timber harvesting, travel down rivers to the oeean and end up smashing intertidal areas. In doing 
so, sponges, and other intertidal marine speeies have suffered. At the world sponge eonferenee 
in Spain it was deeided that the sponge fauna of Oregon needed work/eataloguing; Dave was 
approaehed for a list of Oregon speeies. He set about listing speeimens from museum eolleetions 
that had Oregon listed as the eolleetion loeale. There were a little over 1000 bottles, with many 
speeimens in a single bottle. Dave diseovered an average of 4 speeies per bottle. Proeessing time 
just to Family level is 2-3 hours with 90% of the sponges in eolleetions labeled as “unidentified”. 
Dave estimates 10,000 hours of time to examine speeimens, make spieule preps, and input data. 
He feels the number of images to eome out of the projeet will be elose to 30,000. He needs to 
eonvinee someone to put it on their server. 
Next to be diseussed were problems faeing the OMPP. Colleetion methodology (trawls, ete) 
damages and eontaminates sponges. Expertise on the west eoast is limited and additionally there 
is high turn-over in projeet direetors and teehnieians. Add to this a rapid ehange in taxonomie 
eategories based on moleeular and bioehemieal analysis. Mueh of the eurrent researeh being 
funded emphasizes non-taxonomie eharaeters sueh as bioehemistry. The above mentioned issues 
have ereated a morass of diffieulties for the sponge taxonomist. 
Dave’s solution - build a visual arehive and then ereate on-line training. It is diffieult to use 
words to deseribe skeletal strueture and images are mueh more effeetive. There is a need for a 
virtual eomponent to eolleetion speeimens, and an on-line identifieation guide. This eould help 
ereate a triage level of expertise; sorters-slide makers-experts. The larger question is whether or 
not this solution is finaneially sustainable. In an effort to make it so, Dave is ereating a non-profit 
in Oregon. 
For the OMPP Dave had to ereate rough boundaries as to what eonstitutes an “Oregon” sponge; 
He set the boundaries from Astoria eanyon to Gorda Basin; the environment ean be slope/ 
banks/abyssal. A set of eoordinates were developed and then it was off to museums to look for 
speeimens within those eoordinates. 
Dave diseussed a eolleetion from Heeeta Bank. Most of the speeimens were eolleeted via ROV 
dives and were therefore in good eondition. They were eolleeted from 80m-200m near methane 
seeps. The area is being looked at for potential future methane drilling. Oil platforms ean aet 
as artifieial reefs and ereate more diversity. It is disappointing, however, that there is no marine 
sanetuary but there are marine preserves. Divers went into one of these preserves and took 
pietures of sponges first, then seraped, eolleeted, and sent them in. 
Next to be diseussed were Oregon eurrents and water eharaeters. The eurrents are bringing 
the 2011 Japanese tsunami fiotsam to the Oregon eoastline (among other areas in the Paeifie 
Northwest); Some sponges from the Japanese doek that washed up are already being eolleeted 
and sent in for study. 
Based on PISCO studies, eoastal upwelling eould bring anoxie waters thereby affeeting sponges. 
Carbonate solubility is another issue faeing sponges. In summer months the top layers of the 
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Publication Date: 6 July 2016 
