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Porifera

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Evolutionary Developmental Biology of Invertebrates 1

Abstract

Poriferans (sponges) are sessile aquatic (largely marine) animals that are found in almost all benthic habitats. There are an estimated 15,000 species living today, although many have not been described (reviewed in Hooper and Van Soest 2002). The sponge body plan is amongst the simplest in the animal kingdom and lacks nerve and muscle cells and a centralised gut (reviewed in Simpson 1984; Ereskovsky 2010; Leys and Hill 2012). Their body plan and ecology, and thus their evolution, appear to be intimately associated with the diversity of microbial symbionts they harbour (reviewed in Hentschel et al. 2012; Thacker and Freeman 2012), as is the case with other metazoans.

Chapter vignette artwork by Brigitte Baldrian. © Brigitte Baldrian and Andreas Wanninger.

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Acknowledgements

Because of space limitations, we are unable to cite many important contributions to the field of sponge developmental biology – we acknowledge these here. We also acknowledge the fine contributions of past and present members of the laboratories of B. Degnan, S. Degnan, and M. Adamska towards our understanding of Amphimedon and Sycon biology. Research presented in this chapter was made possible by the generous support of the Australian Research Council to BMD, SMD, and MA and the Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology to MA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Marine Science, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Bernard M. Degnan, Maja Adamska, Gemma S. Richards, Claire Larroux, Andrew Calcino, Karin Taylor, Nagayasu Nakanishi & Sandie M. Degnan

  2. Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Thormøhlensgt. 55, Bergen, 5008, Norway

    Maja Adamska, Gemma S. Richards, Sven Leininger & Brith Bergum

  3. Institute of Marine Research, Nordnesgaten 50, Bergen, 5005, Norway

    Sven Leininger

  4. Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, 7804, Bergen, 5020, Norway

    Brith Bergum

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  1. Bernard M. Degnan
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Correspondence to Bernard M. Degnan .

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  1. Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna Faculty of Life Sciences, Wien, Austria

    Andreas Wanninger

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Degnan, B.M. et al. (2015). Porifera. In: Wanninger, A. (eds) Evolutionary Developmental Biology of Invertebrates 1. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-1862-7_4

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