Species differentiation in the marine sponge genus Discodermia (demospongiae: lithistida): the utility of ethanol extract profiles as species-specific chemotaxonomic markers

Many species of the marine sponge genus Discodermia (Lithistida, Theonellidae) are difficult to differentiate due to plasticity of their morphological features. Ethanol extracts of 26 specimens of central Atlantic Discodermia spp. were subjected to thin layer chromatography (TLC) and 1H-NMR to inves...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biochemical systematics and ecology 1994, Vol.22 (4), p.353-365
Main Authors: Kelly-Borges, Michelle, Robinson, Elise V., Gunasekera, Sarath P., Gunasekera, Malika, Gulavita, Nanda K., Pomponi, Shirley A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
1H-NMR spectra
chemotaxonomy
Demospongiae
Discodermia
Lithistida
Porifera
taxonomic relationships
Theonellidae
thin layer chromatography
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Summary:Many species of the marine sponge genus Discodermia (Lithistida, Theonellidae) are difficult to differentiate due to plasticity of their morphological features. Ethanol extracts of 26 specimens of central Atlantic Discodermia spp. were subjected to thin layer chromatography (TLC) and 1H-NMR to investigate the potential utility of these methods in providing profiles that can be used as species-specific chemotaxonomic markers. Profiles of the central Atlantic species D. dissoluta Schmidt and D. verrucosa Topsent were included for comparative purposes. The resultant biochemical profiles provided a large number of characters, and were directly comparable among specimens. Several specimens with identical morphological features differed in their biochemical profiles, and there were specimens which differed morphologically but had identical biochemical profiles. For the majority of specimens, however, a combination of TLC patterns and 1H NMR spectra with morphological and ecological data uniquely define species groups within central Atlantic species of Discodermia.
ISSN:0305-1978
1873-2925
DOI:10.1016/0305-1978(94)90026-4