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Utilizing sponge spicules in taxonomic, ecological and environmental reconstructions: a review

Most sponges produce skeletons formed by spicules, structural elements that develop in a wide variety of sizes and tridimensional shapes. The morphologies of spicules are often unique to clade- or even species-level taxa which makes them particularly useful in taxonomic assignments. When dead sponge...

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Autor principal: Łukowiak, Magdalena
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7751429/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33384908
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10601
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author Łukowiak, Magdalena
author_facet Łukowiak, Magdalena
author_sort Łukowiak, Magdalena
collection PubMed
description Most sponges produce skeletons formed by spicules, structural elements that develop in a wide variety of sizes and tridimensional shapes. The morphologies of spicules are often unique to clade- or even species-level taxa which makes them particularly useful in taxonomic assignments. When dead sponge bodies disintegrate, spicules become incorporated into sediments and sometimes accumulate into enormous agglomerations called spicule mats or beds, or fossilize to form special type of rocks called the spiculites. The record of fossil and subfossil sponge spicules is extraordinarily rich and often serves as a basis for far-reaching reconstructions of sponge communities, though spicules are also bearers of significant ecological and environmental information. Specific requirements and preferences of sponges can be used to interpret the environment in which they lived, and reconstruct oscillations in water depths, pH, temperatures, and other parameters, providing snapshots of past climate conditions. In turn, the silicon isotope compositions in spicules (δ(30)Si) are being increasingly often used to estimate the level of silicic acid in the marine settings throughout the geological history, which enables to reconstruct the past silica cycle and ocean circulation. This contribution provides a review of the use of sponge spicules in reconstructions of sponge communities, their ecology, and environments, and aims to detect the pertinent gaps in their utilization. Even though spicules are well known for their significance as bearers of taxonomic, ecological, and environmental data, their potential remains to be fully exploited.
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spelling pubmed-77514292020-12-30 Utilizing sponge spicules in taxonomic, ecological and environmental reconstructions: a review Łukowiak, Magdalena PeerJ Ecology Most sponges produce skeletons formed by spicules, structural elements that develop in a wide variety of sizes and tridimensional shapes. The morphologies of spicules are often unique to clade- or even species-level taxa which makes them particularly useful in taxonomic assignments. When dead sponge bodies disintegrate, spicules become incorporated into sediments and sometimes accumulate into enormous agglomerations called spicule mats or beds, or fossilize to form special type of rocks called the spiculites. The record of fossil and subfossil sponge spicules is extraordinarily rich and often serves as a basis for far-reaching reconstructions of sponge communities, though spicules are also bearers of significant ecological and environmental information. Specific requirements and preferences of sponges can be used to interpret the environment in which they lived, and reconstruct oscillations in water depths, pH, temperatures, and other parameters, providing snapshots of past climate conditions. In turn, the silicon isotope compositions in spicules (δ(30)Si) are being increasingly often used to estimate the level of silicic acid in the marine settings throughout the geological history, which enables to reconstruct the past silica cycle and ocean circulation. This contribution provides a review of the use of sponge spicules in reconstructions of sponge communities, their ecology, and environments, and aims to detect the pertinent gaps in their utilization. Even though spicules are well known for their significance as bearers of taxonomic, ecological, and environmental data, their potential remains to be fully exploited. PeerJ Inc. 2020-12-18 /pmc/articles/PMC7751429/ /pubmed/33384908 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10601 Text en © 2020 Łukowiak https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Ecology
Łukowiak, Magdalena
Utilizing sponge spicules in taxonomic, ecological and environmental reconstructions: a review
title Utilizing sponge spicules in taxonomic, ecological and environmental reconstructions: a review
title_full Utilizing sponge spicules in taxonomic, ecological and environmental reconstructions: a review
title_fullStr Utilizing sponge spicules in taxonomic, ecological and environmental reconstructions: a review
title_full_unstemmed Utilizing sponge spicules in taxonomic, ecological and environmental reconstructions: a review
title_short Utilizing sponge spicules in taxonomic, ecological and environmental reconstructions: a review
title_sort utilizing sponge spicules in taxonomic, ecological and environmental reconstructions: a review
topic Ecology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7751429/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33384908
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10601
work_keys_str_mv AT łukowiakmagdalena utilizingspongespiculesintaxonomicecologicalandenvironmentalreconstructionsareview