''Chondrocladia'' is a genus of carnivorous Demospongiae, demosponges of the family (biology), family Cladorhizidae. ''Neocladia (sponge), Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus. 33 named species are placed in this genus at present, but at least two additional undescribed ones are known to exist, while some of the described ones are known only from a few specimens or (e.g. the enigmatic ''Chondrocladia occulta'') just a single one, and their validity and/or placement in ''Chondrocladia'' is doubtful. ''Chondrocladia'' sponges are stipitate, with a stalk frequently anchored in the substrate by rhizoids and an egg-shaped body, sometimes with branches that end in inflatable spheres. Fossils assignable to this genus are known since the Pleistocene, less than 2 million years ago. But given its deep sea habitat, ''Chondrocladia'' may well have been around for much longer – perhaps since the Mesozoic, as characteristic spicule (sponge), spicules (termed "microcricorhabds" or "trochirhabds"), almost identical to those of some living ''Chondrocladia'', are known from Early Jurassic rocks almost 200 million years old.

Carnivory

These sponges gained media attention when a new species, a gourd-shaped carnivorous sponge, was featured in reports of finds off the coast of Antarctica. The new ''Chondrocladia'' was one of 76 sponge species identified in the seas off Antarctica by the Antarctic Benthic Deep-Sea Biodiversity Project (ANDEEP) between 2002 and 2005, conducted aboard the German research vessel ''MV Polarstern, Polarstern''. Carnivorous sponges, which use hooked spicules to capture small crustaceans, have been known only since 1995, when ''Asbestopluma hypogea'', another genus of the family Cladorhizidae, was identified in Mediterranean sea caves offshore La Ciotat (France) by Jean Vacelet and Nicole Boury-Esnault. Carnivory has since turned out to be common and typical for this sponge family. Unlike their relatives, ''Chondrocladia'' still possesses the water flow system and choanocytes typical of sponges, albeit highly modified to inflate balloon-like structures that are used for capturing prey.

Species

The known species of ''Chondrocladia'' are: * ''Chondrocladia albatrossi'' Tendal, 1973 * ''Chondrocladia amphactis'' (Schmidt, 1880) * ''Chondrocladia antarctica'' Hentschel, 1914 * ''Chondrocladia arenifera'' Brøndsted, 1929 * ''Chondrocladia asigmata'' Lévi, 1964 * ''Chondrocladia burtoni'' Tendal, 1973 * ''Chondrocladia clavata'' Ridley & Dendy, 1886 * ''Chondrocladia concrescens'' (Schmidt, 1880) * ''Chondrocladia crinita'' Ridley & Dendy, 1886 * ''Chondrocladia dichotoma'' Lévi, 1964 * ''Chondrocladia fatimae'' Boury-Esnault & Van Beveren, 1982 * ''Chondrocladia gigantea'' (Hansen, 1885) * ''Chondrocladia gracilis'' Lévi, 1964 * ''Chondrocladia grandis'' (Verrill, 1879) * ''Chondrocladia guiteli'' Topsent, 1904 * ''Chondrocladia koltuni'' Vacelet, 2006 * ''Chondrocladia lampadiglobus'' Vacelet, 2006 – Ping-pong Tree Sponge * ''Chondrocladia latrunculioides'' Lopes, Bravo & Hajdu, 2011 * ''Chondrocladia levii'' Cristobo, Urgorri & Ríos, 2005 * ''Chondrocladia lyra'' Lee ''et al.'', 2012 * ''Chondrocladia magna'' Tanita, 1965 * ''Chondrocladia latrunculioides'' Lopes, Bravo & Hajdu, 2011 * ''Chondrocladia multichela'' Lévi, 1964 * ''Chondrocladia nani'' Boury-Esnault & Van Beveren, 1982 * ''Chondrocladia nicolae'' Cristobo, Urgorri & Ríos, 2005 * ''Chondrocladia occulta'' (Lehnert, Stone & Heimler, 2006) * ''Chondrocladia pulvinata'' Lévi, 1964 * ''Chondrocladia rogersi'' Hestetun, Rapp & Xavier, 2017 * ''Chondrocladia robertballardi'' Cristobo, Rios, Pomponi & Xavier, 2015 * ''Chondrocladia saffronae'' Goodwin, Berman, Downey & Hendry, 2017 * ''Chondrocladia schlatteri'' Lopes, Bravo & Hajdu, 2011 * ''Chondrocladia scolionema'' Lévi, 1993 * ''Chondrocladia stipitata'' Ridley & Dendy, 1886 * ''Chondrocladia tasmaniensis'' Vacelet, Michelle Kelly (marine scientist), Kelly & Schlacher-Hoenlinger, 2009 * ''Chondrocladia turbiformis'' Vacelet, Kelly & Schlacher-Hoenlinger, 2009 * ''Chondrocladia vaceleti'' Cristobo, Urgorri & Ríos, 2005 * ''Chondrocladia verticillata'' Topsent, 1920 * ''Chondrocladia virgata'' Thomson, 1873 (type species) * ''Chondrocladia yatsui'' Topsent, 1930 ''C. alaskensis'' and ''C. pulchra'' are better placed in ''Crambe (sponge), Crambe'' or ''Monanchora''. ''C. dura'', ''C. ramosa'' and ''C. sessilis'' are junior synonyms of ''Iotrochota purpurea''. ''C. flabelliformis'' is now in ''Neocladia (sponge), Neocladia''.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q309571 Chondrocladia, Cladorhizidae