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Marine Conservation Society Sponges of The MARINE CONSERVATION SOCIETY SPONGES OF THE BRITISH ISLES (“SPONGE V”) A Colour Guide and Working Document 1992 EDITION, reset with modifications, 2007 R. Graham Ackers David Moss Bernard E. Picton, Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast BT9 5AB. Shirley M.K. Stone Christine C. Morrow Copyright © 2007 Bernard E Picton. CAUTIONS THIS IS A WORKING DOCUMENT, AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN SHOULD BE CONSIDERED TO BE PROVISIONAL AND SUBJECT TO CORRECTION. MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION IS ESSENTIAL BEFORE IDENTIFICATIONS CAN BE MADE WITH CONFIDENCE. CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 1. History .............................................................................................................. 1 2. “Sponge IV” .................................................................................................... 1 3. The Species Sheets ......................................................................................... 2 4. Feedback Required ......................................................................................... 2 5. Roles of the Authors ...................................................................................... 3 6. Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ 3 GLOSSARY AND REFERENCE SECTION .................................................................... 5 1. Form ................................................................................................................. 5 2. Colour ............................................................................................................... 7 3. Smell ................................................................................................................. 7 4. Slime ................................................................................................................. 7 5. Consistency ...................................................................................................... 7 6. Surface .............................................................................................................. 8 7. Apertures ....................................................................................................... 10 8. Contraction .................................................................................................... 10 9. Skeleton .......................................................................................................... 10 10. Spicules ........................................................................................................... 13 CLASSIFICATION ................................................................................................................ 17 1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 17 2. Classification and species list ..................................................................... 17 3. Demospongiae Classification Notes .......................................................... 27 4. The “Haliclonas” .......................................................................................... 28 5. Demospongiae Skeletal drawings ............................................................... 29 TECHNIQUES ....................................................................................................................... 33 1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 33 2. Observation ................................................................................................... 33 3. Collection ....................................................................................................... 33 4. Photography .................................................................................................. 33 5. Recording ....................................................................................................... 34 6. Preservation ................................................................................................... 34 7. Slide Preparation ........................................................................................... 35 8. Identification ................................................................................................. 36 9. Habitat Description ...................................................................................... 37 10. Map of Principal Sites Cited in Text ......................................................... 40 SPECIES DESCRIPTIONS AND MINI-PRINTS .......................................................... 41 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................152 INDEX .......................................................................................................................156 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 1. HISTORY The “Sponges of the British Isles” has evolved from several years project work by members of the Marine Conservation Society. It had often been the shared experience among sublittoral ecologists, especially in the South of England, that whilst sponges are very important in sublittoral communities no readily available text illustrated living animals. All the literature which is relevant is scattered through the world’s journals and is written in many languages, especially English, Danish, French and German. The descriptions of the species are based largely on Museum material which has been collected either on the sea shore or by dredge, and was often preserved and dry when described. It was against this background that the initial project was born. The first project co-ordinator, David Guiterman, became interested in sponges in 1973, and over successive years with grants from the Royal Society and the BS-AC and the encouragement of one of the present authors (SMKS) established a working knowledge of sponge material from a wide variety of sites around the coast of the British Isles. Following a meeting between the MCS (then Underwater Conservation Society) projects co-ordinator, Bob Earll, and another of the present authors (RGA) at the Plymouth British Sub-Aqua Club AGM in 1978, it was decided to explore further the possibilities of producing an accessible collection of sponge photographs, for it seemed likely that a number of common British species of sponge could be recognised from good photographs of living material backed up by diagnostic notes. To this end a meeting was held at Bristol University in June 1978 and this succeeded in bringing together a guide and photographs which covered 16 sponge species using 22 photographs. The work of the project coordinator was supported during 1978 by grants from the NCC and BS-AC and further sponge material was collected from SW Ireland and the Menai Straits. A second meeting was held in Bristol in January 1979 which expanded the guide to cover 26 species/entities using 42 colour photographs, and a second edition of the guide was produced. This became known colloquially as “SPONGE I”. During 1979 the work was aided by a further grant from the Royal Society. A second meeting was held in Bristol in October 1979 and it was resolved to meet once a year, and update and amend the guide on an annual basis. For the 1980 diving season a revised and expanded text was produced, together with the addition of some new species, to prevent confu- sion with closely related similar species. In 1981, David Guiterman stood down as project co-ordinator having successfully launched the project and consolidated the mini print/ species list format. His place was taken jointly by Bob Earll and one of the present authors (DM), and the 1981 package was launched with a significant change in emphasis. Originally, the package was viewed as a “recognition guide”, with the mini prints giving clues as to the identity of a sponge. It outlined possibilities and suggested the degree of confidence that survey ecologists could place on both the names and identity of prominent sublittoral species, based on appearance alone. In 1981, it was decided that the package would become a much more broadly based identification guide, with a view to coordinating efforts on all fronts to increase our knowledge of sponge identification. Sheets were produced for a further 6 species, and an additional 22 mini prints were produced. For the first time, some reddish-brown encrusting forms were included. The 1981 package was known as “SPONGE II”. The work for 1982 was formulated at a meeting of the working group at the Natural History Museum in November 1981. Bob Earll stepped down as one of the co-ordinators, and his place was taken by RGA. Behind the scenes the project was being steered by a working group consisting of Frances Dipper, Bob Earll, BEP and SMKS, plus the then two project co-ordinators RGA and DM. The resulting package, “SPONGE III” was issued in 1982, with the addition of 18 new species, 42 new mini-prints, and numerous revisions to the text. Furthermore, participation was encouraged in two “sub-projects”, one covering the “Haliclona's”, and another the geographical distribu- tion of British sponges in addition to the main project centred around the Sponge Recording Form. Two sponge workshops were held, one in June 1983 at Menai Bridge, and the other in June 1984 in South Devon. The working group held further meetings in December 1982
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