Patterns of reproduction in two co-occurring Great Barrier Reef sponges

Abstract

Fig. S1. (a) Mean surface area (cm 2 ± s.e.) of female (F) and non-reproductive (NR) Ianthella basta, and (b) mean volume (cm 3 ± s.e.) of hermaphroditic (H), male (M) and non-reproductive Ircinia sp., in two of the most reproductive months (

Microbes from Mum: symbiont transmission in the tropical reef sponge Ianthella basta

“…To characterise I. basta ’s life cycle at the start of development, we first investigated gamete production to determine the mode of gametogenesis. Reproductively mature I. basta individuals simultaneously released gametes in aquaria 1-day after the new moon in August 2018, consistent with previous field observations in which I. basta contained gametes in August 2010, but not in September 2010 [ 27 ]. Spermatogenesis in I. basta occurred within 5-days of broadcast spawning and male and female gametes did not co-occur in individuals, confirming I. basta is gonochoric.…”

“…Ianthella basta presents in two colour morphotypes, purple and yellow [ 29 ]. To ensure consistency, seven purple adult I. basta , with a relatively thick morphology, were collected on the 6th of August 2018 around the predicted peak reproduction period, when water temperature rises above 23.4 °C [ 27 , 30 ], from Cattle Bay, Orpheus Island (S 18°35.259', E 146°28.883 ' ) using SCUBA at depths between 9 and 12 m. Sponges were immediately transferred to indoor flow-through aquaria in the National Sea Simulator at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in Townsville, Australia. Three female individuals containing oocytes, as determined via visual inspection of gametes in the sponge mesohyl, were moved into two 884 L rectangular aquaria tanks (930 mm width × 1440 mm length × 760 mm height; water height = 660 mm), and a pair of putative male sponges (those not containing oocytes) were placed in each tank to allow for fertilisation upon egg release.…”

“…Ianthella basta is an oviparous, verongiid demosponge, a group for which little is known about their sexual reproduction [ 26 , 27 ]. This sponge harbours only three dominant symbionts that make up >90% of the microbial community: a Thaumarchaeotum, a Gammaproteobacterium and an Alphaproteobacterium [ 7 , 28 ].…”

­Reproductive strategies of two common sympatric Mediterranean sponges:Dysidea avara(Dictyoceratida) andPhorbas tenacior(Poecilosclerida)

“…Alternatively, the differences found may not be the result of environmental variables, but may simply reflect the phylogenetic distance of the two species (different Orders) and their reproductive features may be phylogenetically constrained. A recent work also reported contrasting reproductive parameters in sponges belonging to different Orders ( Abdul Wahab et al, 2016 ).…”

Behavior and development of larvae in the sponge Haliclona amboinensis

“…Sponge size, however, did not appear to be a main determinant of reproductive output in H. amboinensis (Fromont, 1994), as also observed in other sponge species, including Haliclona sp. (Abdo et al., 2008), C. foliascens (Abdul Wahab et al., 2014a), Ircinia sp., and Ianthella basta (Abdul Wahab, de Nys, Holzman, Schneider, & Whalan, 2017). Instead, variation in reproductive output may be a direct result of higher energetic surplus invested for reproduction by individuals living in less perturbed environments (Abdul Wahab et al., 2014b; Uriz, Turon, Becerro, Galera, & Lozano, 1995).…”