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Trophodynamics of the sclerosponge Ceratoporella nicholsoni along a shallow to mesophotic depth gradient

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Abstract

The sclerosponge Ceratoporella nicholsoni is a hyper-calcifying high microbial abundance sponge. This sponge has been observed at high densities throughout the Caribbean in the mesophotic zone (30–150 m), as well as cryptic environments in shallow (< 30 m) depths. Given the densities of this sponge, it could play an important role in the cycling of inorganic and organic sources of carbon and nitrogen at mesophotic depths. Additionally, there is broad interest in this sponge as a tool for paleobiology, paleoclimatology and paleoceanography. As a result, it is increasingly important to understand the ecology of these unique sponges in the underexplored Caribbean mesophotic zone. Here we show that this sponge increases in abundance from shallow depths into the mesophotic zone of Grand Cayman Island. We observed no significant differences in the stable isotope signatures of δ15N and δ13C of sponge tissue between depths. A predictive model of sponge diet with increasing depth shows that these sponges consume dissolved organic matter of algal and coral origin, as well as the consumption of particulate organic matter consistent with the interpretation of the stable isotope data. The taxonomic composition of the sclerosponge microbiome was invariant across the shallow to mesophotic depth range but did contain the Phylum Chloroflexi, known to degrade a variety of dissolved organic carbon sources. These data suggest that the depth distribution of this sponge may not be driven by changes in trophic strategy and is potentially regulated by other biotic or abiotic factors.

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Fig. 1

taken from Morrow et al. (2016), data for A. tubulata was taken from Slattery et al. (2011) and data for H. caerulea was taken from Lesser et al. (2020)

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Acknowledgements

We thank K. Morrow, E. Kintzing, and D. Gochfeld for field and laboratory support. We thank A. Weinheimer for insightful comments on the manuscript draft and statistical analyses. We thank Dr. Peter Swart for his comments on the manuscript, and for re-running non-acidified sponge tissue samples at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine Geosciences. All sample collections complied with the laws of the Cayman Islands and the United States of America. Support was provided by NSF Biological Oceanography (OCE–1632348/1632333) to MPL and MS respectively, and the University of New Hampshire Marine Biology Small Grants fund to KJM.

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  1. Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences and School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Keir J. Macartney, M. Sabrina Pankey & Michael P. Lesser

  2. Department of BioMolecular Science, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, 38677, USA

    Marc Slattery

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  1. Keir J. Macartney
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Macartney, K.J., Pankey, M.S., Slattery, M. et al. Trophodynamics of the sclerosponge Ceratoporella nicholsoni along a shallow to mesophotic depth gradient. Coral Reefs 39, 1829–1839 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02008-3

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