Ecosystem Services 3.4
A catalogue of shallow-water sponges from the Investigator Islands, South Australia.
| ID Number | Project Number | Manager | Start Date | End Date | Total Project Funds ($) |
| SVE-5453I | RD03/0183 | Currie, David | 20-May-2006 | 30-Apr-2007 | 4,575 |
Executive Summary
A multidisciplinary expedition to the Investigator Islands was conducted in May 2006 to examine the natural history of the islands. As part of the expedition the diversity of marine sponges was investigated for the first time. Sponges were collected by SCUBA divers from the fringing rocky reefs of 6 islands: Flinders, Pearson, Dorothee, Ward and Topgallant.
This document catalogues the sponge collection, with all sponges identified to genus. Voucher specimens, photographs and specimen slides are held at the Museum of South Australia, Adelaide. The investigation was time limited and the collection of sponges is by no means comprehensive, but is a preliminary investigation of the sponge diversity of the Islands.
Of the 101 sponges collected, there were 71 species; 10 in the Class Calcarea and 61 in the class Demospongiae. Four sponges from the Investigator Islands that were already lodged at the South Australian Museum are included in our list. Many of the sponges had evidence of algal or cyanobacterial symbionts, reflecting the clear shallow-water conditions of the sites. There was little overlap between this collection and an earlier collection from the Great Australian Bight Marine Park – Benthic Protection Park, with only 3 sponges in common.