[Coral-List] New video of Giant Barrel Sponges

[Pawlik, Joseph]

Greetings, listers!

Those of us who study sponges on Caribbean coral reefs have been claiming that sponges are now the primary living habitat providers on many reefs.  Here is a new video that helps make this clear:
http://youtu.be/8WaWVuGE-LM
Be sure to set your YouTube settings to HD, turn up screen brightness, and turn on your audio.
This video comes from out-islands with undisturbed reefs having some of the highest coral cover in the Caribbean -- this is only moderate sponge cover relative to some reefs we've been on.

If you're interested in the ecology of the giant barrel sponge, Xestospongia muta, check out these papers:
 McMurray, S.E., Blum, J.E., and Pawlik, J.R.  2008.  Redwood of the reef: growth and age of the giant barrel sponge, Xestospongia muta in the Florida Keys. Marine Biology, 155:159-171.
McMurray, S.E. and Pawlik, J.R.  2009.  A novel technique for the reattachment of large coral reef sponges. Restoration Ecology, 17: 192-195
López-Legentil, S. and Pawlik, J.R.  2009.  Genetic structure of the Caribbean giant barrel sponge Xestospongia muta using the I3-M11 partition of COI. Coral Reefs, 28: 157-165.
Cowart, J.D., Henkel, T.P., McMurray, S.E., and Pawlik, J.R.  2006.  Sponge orange band (SOB): a pathogenic-like condition of the giant barrel sponge, Xestospongia muta.  Coral Reefs 25: 513
 McMurray, S.E., Henkel, T.P., and Pawlik, J.R. 2010.  Demographics of increasing populations of the giant barrel sponge Xestospongia muta in the Florida Keys. Ecology, 91:560-570
López-Legentil, S., Erwin, P.M., Pawlik, J.R., and Song, B.K. 2010.  Effects of sponge bleaching on ammonia oxidizing Archaea: Distribution and relative expression of ammonia monooxygenase genes associated with the barrel sponge Xestospongia muta. Microbial Ecology, 60: 561-571.
McMurray, S.E., Blum, J.E., Leichter, J.J. and Pawlik, J.R.  2011.  Bleaching of the giant barrel sponge Xestospongia muta in the Florida Keys. Limnology and Oceanography, 56: 2243-2250.

Cheers,
Joe
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Joseph R. Pawlik, Professor
UNCW Center for Marine Science
5600 Marvin K Moss Lane
Wilmington, NC  28409   USA
pawlikj at uncw.edu<mailto:pawlikj at uncw.edu>; Office:(910)962-2377; Cell:(910)232-3579
Website: http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/index.html<https://mail.uncw.edu/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx>
PDFs: http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/pubs2.html<https://mail.uncw.edu/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx>
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