Growth estimates of Caribbean reef sponges on a shipwreck using 3D photogrammetry

The growth rates and ages of many benthic marine organisms are poorly understood, complicating our understanding of ecosystem change. This is particularly true for sponges, which are morphologically diverse and lack indicators of annual growth. In this study, we used emerging technologies to measure volume, surface area, and approximate age of 16 sponge species on the Tibbetts shipwreck off Cayman Brac, Caribbean Sea. Photogrammetry was used to determine the volume of individual sponges on the wreck surface, and a time series of YouTube videos was amassed in order to approximate the greatest possible age of the sponges as 8.74 y. Applying the volume measurements to an existing growth equation for the Caribbean sponge Aiolochroia crassa yielded age estimates of 5.2–10.4 y for the largest individuals of the 16 species. Specific growth rates were then calculated for 7 species from the Tibbetts and 8 species from a second shipwreck (Spiegel Grove, Key Largo, FL). Subsequent growth forecasts from these 15 species corroborate a resource trade-off between growth and the production of chemical defenses. Shipwrecks and other anthropogenic structures can be an important source of demographic information for benthic organisms, provided that certain assumptions about their provenance and history can be met.