Demosponge diversity from North Sulawesi, with the description of six new species

By

Calcinai, Barbara
Bastari, Azzurra
Bavestrello, Giorgio
Bertolino, Marco
Horcajadas, Santiago
Pansini, Maurizio
Makapedua, Daisy
Cerrano, Carlo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

680

Pages

105-150

Subjects

associations , diversity , Indonesia , new species , Porifera

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.680.12135

 

Abstract

Sponges are key components of the benthic assemblages and play an important functional role in many ecosystems, especially in coral reefs. The Indonesian coral reefs, located within the so-called “coral triangle”, are among the richest in the world. However, the knowledge of the diversity of sponges and several other marine taxa is far from being complete in the area. In spite of this great biodiversity, most of the information on Indonesian sponges is scattered in old and fragmented literature and comprehensive data about their diversity are still lacking. In this paper, we report the presence of 94 species recorded during different research campaigns mainly from the Marine Park of Bunaken, North Sulawesi. Six species are new for science and seven represent new records for the area. Several others are very poorly known species, sometimes recorded for the second time after their description. For most species, besides field data and detailed descriptions, pictures in vivo are included. Moreover, two new symbiotic sponge associations are described. This work aims to increase the basic knowledge of Indonesian sponge diversity as a prerequisite for monitoring and conservation of this valuable taxon.