What is it about?
Sponges are sessile benthic invertebrates that reproduce mainly by free living larvae that in average last for days or weeks. In the present study we provide the first record and a description of a Mediterranean lineage of Cliona viridis (Schmidt, 1862) in the southwestern Atlantic. We believe that the C. viridis specimens may have their origin in the Mediterranean Sea, and they were possibly brought to Brazil by ballast water, associated with traffic around oil platforms or other man-made structures, hypothesis supported by the intense harbour activities near the sampling site.
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Why is it important?
Bioeroding sponges of the Cliona viridis species complex play a large role in carbonate cycling and reef health. The introduction of this type of animals in other environments supposely through man activities could change the entire reef ecosystem.
Perspectives
Taking care of Ocean health is taking care of our own health.
Dr. Gisele Lôbo Hajdu
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - UERJ
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Morphological and molecular systematics of the ‘Cliona viridis complex’ from south-eastern Brazil, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, October 2015, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s0025315415001642.
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