Growth estimates of Caribbean reef sponges on a shipwreck using 3D photogrammetry.

ABSTRACT: The growth rates and ages of many benthic marine organisms are poorly understood, complicating our understanding of ecosystem change. This is particularly true for sponges, which are morphologically diverse and lack indicators of annual growth. In this study, we used emerging technologies to measure volume, surface area, and approximate age of 16 sponge species on the Tibbetts shipwreck off Cayman Brac, Caribbean Sea. Photogrammetry was used to determine the volume of individual sponges on the wreck surface, and a time series of YouTube videos was amassed in order to approximate the greatest possible age of the sponges as 8.74 y. Applying the volume measurements to an existing growth equation for the Caribbean sponge Aiolochroia crassa yielded age estimates of 5.2-10.4 y for the largest in

SUBMITTER: Olinger LK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6895235 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature