Who's there? - First morphological and DNA barcoding catalogue of the shallow Hawai'ian sponge fauna.

ABSTRACT: The sponge fauna has been largely overlooked in the Archipelago of Hawai'i, notwithstanding the paramount role of this taxon in marine ecosystems. The lack of knowledge about Porifera populations inhabiting the Hawai'ian reefs limits the development of ecological studies aimed at understanding the functioning of these marine systems. Consequently, this project addresses this gap by describing the most representative sponge species in the shallow waters of the enigmatic bay of Kane'ohe Bay, in O'ahu Island. A total of 30 species (28 demosponges and two calcareous sponges) living associated to the reef structures are here reported. Six of these species are new records to the Hawai'ian Porifera catalogue and are suspected to be recent introductions to these islands. Morphological descriptions

SUBMITTER: Nunez Pons L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5739426 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature