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Turkey is surrounded by the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean sea, comprising a rich source of marine biodiversity. Among all marine species, sponges with a wide range of secondary metabolites are an important potential for drug discovery. There are many studies on sponges and their secondary metabolites, but not enough study about Turkish sponges. The present review gives an overview of the current research trends on secondary metabolites from Turkish marine sponges and some of their biological activities. Until today alkaloids, steroids and phenolic compounds have been isolated and determined from Turkish sponges. To our knowledge, this is the first review about Turkish sponges. Furthermore, we have tried to introduce our Marine Herbarium of Ankara University Pharmacy Faculty (MAP).

The census of shallow-water sponges from the northern Aegean and Marmara sea coasts resulted in the collection of 10 species of Demospongiae. A new Hymedesmia species, Hymedesmia (Hymedesmia) anatoliensis sp. nov., is described from the western coast of Turkey. Three further species of demosponges, Axinyssa aurantiaca (Schmidt, 1864), Halichondria (Halichondria) contorta (Sarà, 1961), and Dictyonella incisa (Schmidt, 1880), are new to the sponge fauna of Turkey.

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