animalia: Porifera: Demospongiae: Halisarcida: Halisarcidae: Halisarca: Halisarca dujardini (Johnston, 1842)

What is a sponge exactly? You probably thought it’s something you use for cleaning. These simple animals are without circulatory, digestive and nervous systems and have been around for over 500 million years! There are three kinds of sponges, glass sponges, calcareous sponges and demosponges and over 8,000 species. Featured for #Biodiversity150 is Dujardin’s slime sponge, Halisarca dujardini. It was named after him in 1842 as he was first to discover and describe it. This sponge is unique because it doesn’t contain spicules, which are a defining characteristic in the vast majority of sponges. Spicules help with the structure of the skeleton of sponges and are made of silicon dioxide (silica) or calcium carbonate. Instead H. dujardini is made up of primarily spongin, a collagen protein, that makes it “spongy” or fibrous. A unique use of sponges has been observed in bottlenose dolphins from Shark Bay, Western Australia. The dolphins use a sponge as protection on their rostrum as they forage for food on the bottom of the ocean. This behaviour is called sponging and mother dolphins have been observed teaching this to their daughters. #Canada150 #Biodiversity150

Here’s the barcode sequence information for this species:

Process ID:  ARCMI557-14

nucleotide sequence

GACTCTTTATTTAGTGTTTGGTGCTTTTGCAGGAATGATCGGAACGGCACTTAGTATGCTAATTCGACTAGAATTGTCTGCGCCTGGTTCTATGCTG——GGGGACGATCACCTGTATAATGTTATAGTAACAGCACATGCATTTGTTATGATTTTCTTCCTAGTTATGCCGGTTATGATTGGGGGGTTTGGTAATTGGCTAGTTCCACTATACATTGGGGCGCCAGATATGGCGTTTCCTCGATTAAATAATATAAGTTTTTGATTATTACCTCCGGCTTTAACTTTATTATTGGGATCTGCTTTTGTA—GAGCAAGGAGCAGGAACTGGTTGAACTGTTTATCCACCTTTGGCGGGTATACAGACACACTCTGGGGGGTCTGTG—GATATGGCCATATTTAGCTTACACTTGGCGGGTATATCTTCGATTTTAAGCTCCATGAATTTTATAACAACGATTATCAATATGAGGGCGCCTGGTATGACTATGGATCGGCTTCCATTATTTGTATGGTCAATTTTAATCACAACAATCTTATTACTATTGTCTTTGCCGGTTTTAGCTGGTGCGATTACAATGCTTTTAACGGACCGGAATTTTAATACGACGTTTTTTGACCCGGCTGGGGGTGGTGATCCGATTTTATATCAGCATCTTTTT

amino acid sequence

TLYLVFGAFAGMIGTALSMLIRLELSAPGSML–GDDHLYNVMVTAHAFVMIFFLVMPVMIGGFGNWLVPLYIGAPDMAFPRLNNMSFWLLPPALTLLLGSAFV-EQGAGTGWTVYPPLAGMQTHSGGSV-DMAMFSLHLAGMSSILSSMNFMTTIINMGAPGMTMDRLPLFVWSILITTILLLLSLPVLAGAITMLLTDRNFNTTFFDPAGGGDPILYQHLF

Learn more about it’s BIN (Barcode Index Number): BOLD:ACQ1069

Title Image: Specimen BIOUG14665-G12 – Torngat Mountains National Park, Hog Island – 08-Sep-2014
Photo Credit: CBG Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics