Sponge reefs

(noun)

Sponge reefs serve an important ecological function as habitat, breeding, and nursery areas for fish and invertebrates. The reefs are currently threatened by the fishery, offshore oil, and gas industries.

Related Terms

Examples of Sponge reefs in the following topics:

  • Sponge Communities

    • These sponge reefs are considered to be "living fossils. "
    • There are no known predators of healthy reef sponges.
    • Each living sponge on the surface of the reef can be over 1.5 m tall.
    • The growth of sponge reefs is thus analogous to that of coral reefs.
    • This chain of sponge reefs is the largest known biostructure to have ever existed on Earth.

  • Marine Habitats

    • Reefs comprise some of the densest and most diverse habitats in the world.
    • The best-known types of reefs are tropical coral reefs, which exist in most tropical waters; however, reefs can also exist in cold water.
    • Reefs are built up by corals and other calcium-depositing animals, usually on top of a rocky outcrop on the ocean floor.
    • Reefs can also grow on other surfaces; this has made it possible to create artificial reefs.
    • Coral reefs provide marine habitats for tube sponges, which in turn become marine habitats for fishes.

  • Sea Coral and Sea Anemone Zooxanthellae

    • They are also harbored by various species of sponges, flatworms, mollusks (e.g. giant clams), foraminifera (soritids), and some ciliates.
    • These dinoflagellates are therefore among the most abundant eukaryotic microbes found in coral reef ecosystems.

  • Staphylococcal Food Poisoning

    • Foodborne disease can also be caused by a large variety of toxins that affect the environment such as pesticides or medicines in food and naturally toxic substances such as poisonous mushrooms or reef fish.
    • Foodborne disease can also be caused by a large variety of toxins that affect the environment, such as pesticides or medicines in food, and naturally toxic substances such as poisonous mushrooms or reef fish.

  • Prochlorophytes

    • Prochlorophyta were initially discovered in 1975 near the Great Barrier Reef and off the coast of Mexico.

  • T Cell Receptors

    • The presence of vacuoles, i.e. microscopic "holes" in the gray matter, gives the brain of BSE-affected cows a sponge-like appearance when tissue sections are examined in the lab.

  • Microorganisms and Water Quality

    • Coral reefs are also affected by sewage contaminated water.

  • Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

    • In CJD, the brain tissue develops holes and takes on a sponge-like texture.

  • Antiviral DNA Synthesis Inhibitors

    • It was designed based on nucleosides isolated from a Caribbean sponge.

  • Cold-Seep Ecosystems

    • Cold seeps develop unique topography over time, where reactions between methane and seawater create carbonate rock formations and reefs.