Acanthella danerii sp. nov. (Demospongiae, Bubarida, Dictyonellidae) from Chilean fjords (South Pacific Ocean).

The use of SCUBA diving for marine research in the Chilean fjords has increased the possibility of obtaining information on the sponge assemblages living in this environment. However, much work is still needed to achieve a satisfactory knowledge of the benthos of this wide region. As to sponges, just consider that seventeen new species have been recently described by several authors (Hajdu et al.

Two new species of deep-sea sponges (Porifera, Demospongiae) from submarine canyons of the Sardinian continental margin (western Mediterranean Sea).

Here we describe two new species of deep-sea sponges collected during the exploration of Cold-Water Coral (CWC) banks discovered in the Nora and Coda Cavallo canyons (north-eastern and south coast of Sardinia respectively). Poecillastra tavianii n. sp.

The sponge fauna of the Seno Magdalena and Puyuhuapi Fjord (Chile), with a description of two new species.

The presence of fjords, islands and channels originating from glacial erosion and ice cap retreat, makes the Chilean benthic biodiversity difficult to explore and study. Our survey of this region allowed the identification of 29 Demospongiae species in total. Two of them are new to science and here described: Biemna lutea sp.

A new sponge species of the genus Antho (Demospongiae, Microcionidae) from the Tyrrhenian deep Sea.

The use of ROVs has greatly enhanced the possibility of obtaining information on living deep sponge communities (Bertolino et al. 2015). The aim of this work is to describe a new Mediterranean species, Antho (Plocamia) sarasiri sp.

A first preliminary study of the shallow water sponge fauna from Cyprus Island (Eastern Mediterranean).

Currently, more than 8,500 valid sponge species are reported in the World Porifera Database (http://www.marinespecies.org/porifera/) (van Soest et al.

Demosponge diversity from North Sulawesi, with the description of six new species.

Sponges are key components of the benthic assemblages and play an important functional role in many ecosystems, especially in coral reefs. The Indonesian coral reefs, located within the so-called "coral triangle", are among the richest in the world. However, the knowledge of the diversity of sponges and several other marine taxa is far from being complete in the area.

The dynamics of a Mediterranean coralligenous sponge assemblage at decennial and millennial temporal scales.

This paper concerns the changes occurred over both decennial and millennial spans of time in a sponge assemblage present in coralligenous biogenic build-ups growing at 15 m depth in the Ligurian Sea (Western Mediterranean). The comparison of the sponge diversity after a time interval of about 40 years (1973-2014) showed a significant reduction in species richness (about 45%). This decrease affected mainly the massive/erect sponges, and in particular the subclass Keratosa, with a species loss of 67%, while the encrusting and cavity dwelling sponges lost the 36% and 50%, respectively.

Diversity of Porifera in the Mediterranean coralligenous accretions, with description of a new species.

Temperate reefs, built by multilayers of encrusting algae accumulated during hundreds to thousands of years, represent one of the most important habitats of the Mediterranean Sea. These bioconstructions are known as "coralligenous" and their spatial complexity allows the formation of heterogeneous microhabitats offering opportunities for a large number of small cryptic species hardly ever considered. Although sponges are the dominant animal taxon in the coralligenous rims with both insinuating and perforating species, this group is until now poorly known.