ping pong ball
Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
sponges, is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
carnivorous
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Cladorhizidae
Cladorhizidae is a family of carnivorous demosponges found in deep-sea environments worldwide. These sponges are known for their unique feeding structures and predatory behavior, as they capture and consume small animals such as crustaceans.
De ...
junior synonym
In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
...
, but recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
Thirty-three 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
''Chondrocladia'', the ping pong ball sponges, is a genus of carnivorous Demospongiae, tree sponges of the family (biology), family Cladorhizidae. ''Neocladia (sponge), Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but recently become accepte ...
'') 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
rhizoid
Rhizoids are protuberances that extend from the lower epidermal cells of bryophytes and algae. They are similar in structure and function to the root hairs of vascular land plants. Similar structures are formed by some fungi. Rhizoids may be un ...
s and an egg-shaped body, sometimes with branches that end in inflatable spheres.
Fossils
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
assignable to this genus are known since the
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
, less than two million years ago. However, given its
deep sea
The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low tempe ...
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
, ''Chondrocladia'' may well have been around for much longer – it existed perhaps as early as the
Mesozoic Era
The Mesozoic Era is the era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian reptiles such as the dinosaurs, and of gymnosperms s ...
, as characteristic
spicules
Spicules are any of various small needle-like anatomical structures occurring in organisms
Spicule may also refer to:
*Spicule (sponge), small skeletal elements of sea sponges
*Spicule (nematode), reproductive structures found in male nematodes ( ...
(termed "microcricorhabds" or "trochirhabds"), almost identical to those of some living ''Chondrocladia'', are known from
Early Jurassic
The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassicâ ...
rocks almost two hundred million years old.
Carnivory
These sponges gained media attention when a new
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
, a gourd-shaped carnivorous sponge, was featured in reports of finds off the coast of Antarctica. The new ''Chondrocladia'' was one of seventy-six sponge species identified in the seas off Antarctica by the
Antarctic Benthic Deep-Sea Biodiversity Project
The ''Antarctic Benthic Deep-Sea Biodiversity Project (ANDEEP)'' is an international project to investigate deep-water biology of the Scotia and Weddell seas. Benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of wa ...
(ANDEEP) between 2002 and 2005, conducted aboard the German research vessel ''
Polarstern
RV ''Polarstern'' (meaning pole star) is a German research icebreaker of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany. ''Polarstern'' was built by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel and Nobiskrug in ...
''.
Carnivorous sponges, which use hooked spicules to capture small
crustaceans
Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...
, have been known only since 1995, when ''
Asbestopluma hypogea
''Asbestopluma'' is a genus of sponges belonging to the family Cladorhizidae.
The genus has cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of t ...
'', another genus of the family Cladorhizidae, was identified in
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. 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
choanocyte
Choanocytes (also known as "collar cells") are cells that line the interior of asconoid, syconoid and leuconoid body types of sponges that contain a central flagellum, or ''cilium,'' surrounded by a collar of microvilli which are connected by ...
s 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
''Chondrocladia'', the ping pong ball sponges, is a genus of carnivorous tree sponges of the family Cladorhizidae. '' Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
Thirty-three named spec ...
Chondrocladia lampadiglobus
''Chondrocladia'', the ping pong ball sponges, is a genus of carnivorous tree sponges of the family Cladorhizidae. '' Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
Thirty-three named specie ...
Chondrocladia occulta
''Chondrocladia'', the ping pong ball sponges, is a genus of carnivorous Demospongiae, tree sponges of the family (biology), family Cladorhizidae. ''Neocladia (sponge), Neocladia'' was long considered a junior synonym, but recently become accepte ...
Kelly
Kelly may refer to:
Art and entertainment
* ''Kelly'' (Kelly Price album), 2011
* ''Kelly'' (Andrea Faustini album)
* ''Kelly'' (musical), by Mark Charlap, 1965
* "Kelly" (song), by Kelly Rowland, 2018
* ''Kelly'' (film), Canada, 1981
* ...
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
)
* '' Chondrocladia yatsui'' Topsent, 1930
''C. alaskensis'' and ''C. pulchra'' are better placed in ''
Crambe
''Crambe'' is a genus of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to a variety of habitats in Europe, Turkey, southwest and central Asia and eastern Africa. They carry dense racemes of tiny white or yellow flowe ...
'' or ''
Monanchora
''Monanchora'' is a genus of demosponges belonging to the family Crambeidae, Crambeida. The genus contains 18 species, which have been researched for their potential use in medicine.
Description
Morphology
The species with in ''Monanchora'' ...
''.
''C. dura'', ''C. ramosa'' and ''C. sessilis'' are
junior synonym
In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
...