Crucial sea sponge identification made easier by Australian scientists

Sea sponge identification has been made easier after Australian scientists came up with a unique identification protocol, opening the door for further study into one of the marine ecosystem's most important animals.

There are more than 8,700 known species of sea sponge around the world but they are notoriously difficult to identify, but scientists at Adelaide's Flinders University have devised an identification protocol which will give greater accuracy to researchers studying the animals.

The new protocol relies on the use of sequence information from three different molecular methods, along with traditional morphological methods, to give researchers help in identifying the marine sponges.

According to Flinders University researcher Yang Qi, using traditional DNA barcoding methods to identify sea sponges was 'limited,' but this new protocol will assist researchers in a number of different aspects, including probing the sponges' bioactive compounds for potential use in drug discoveries.

"We have addressed the gap in identifying species by developing an integrated multilocus-based Sponge Identification Protocol validated by 10 orders from South Australia," Yang said in a statement released on Thursday.

"We believe it will benefit the discovery of the sponge diversity in more marine and freshwater ecosystems."

Yang said sea sponges play a vital role in marine ecosystems, and added that they have been found to produce up to 30 percent of all active marine metabolites - which could be used in the pharmaceutical and biomaterial industries.

She said they also carry out crucial "biotic interactions" with both other marine lifeforms and the environment, meaning it was important to correctly identify and protect sea sponges for "future conservation efforts." Endit