The Pumping Rate of the White Sea Sponge Halichondria panicea (Pallas, 1766) (Porifera: Demospongiae)

• Published in: Russian journal of marine biology 2022-06, Vol.48 (3), p.158-165
• Main Authors: Khalaman, V. V., Lezin, P. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Demospongiae; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Halichondria panicea; Irrigation systems; Life Sciences; Marine invertebrates; Marine molluscs; Mollusks; Original Papers; Porifera; Pumping; Velocity; Wet weight
• ISSN: 1063-0740; 1608-3377
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063074022030051

The pumping rate of the White Sea sponge Halichondria panicea (Pallas, 1766) (Porifera: Demospongiae) was estimated under laboratory conditions. We used live specimens with a wet weight of 3.5 to 35.5 g and one to eight oscula. The pumping rate of a sponge was determined as the sum of pumping rates of all its oscula, which was calculated as the product of the maximum velocity of the excurrent flow from an osculum by the cross-sectional area of that osculum. The velocity was measured using a microthermistor sensor. The pumping rate of the sponge was found to be related to its weight by a power relationship with an exponent of approximately 3. Sponges weighing 25 g and over surpass in pumping activity solitary animals such as the bivalves Mytilus edulis and Hiatella arctica and the ascidian Styela rustica , in which the relationship is either a linear or power one, with an exponent less than one. The advantage of the sponge over solitary organisms seems to be due to its modular organization, which ensures not only a constant increase in the number and size of oscula as the individual grows, but probably also leads to a periodic restructuring of the irrigation system.