Lindane is an organochlorine pesticide that has been widely used to treat agricultural pests. It is of particular concern because of its toxicity, persistence and tendency to bioaccumulate in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In this context, we investigated the ability of the demosponge Hymeniacidon perlevis to bioremediate lindane polluted seawater during in vitro experimentation. Lindane was extracted by solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) and determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Furthermore, we assessed the role exerted in lindane degradation by bacteria isolated from the sponge. Sponges showed low mortality in experimental conditions (lindane concentration 1 μg/L) and were able to remove about 50% of the lindane content from seawater in 48 h. Bacteria isolated from sponges showed a remarkable remediating capacity (up to 97% of lindane removed after 8-days). A lindane metabolite was identified, 1,3,4,5,6-pentachloro-cyclohexene. The results obtained are a prelude to the development of future strategies for the in situ bioremediation of this pollutant

Sponges can filter large amounts of water, which exerts an important grazing impact on free bacteria, an important component of the diet of sponges. We examined the accumulation of bacteria in the Demospongiae (Hymeniacidon perlevis). Analyses were performed on homogenates from unstarved and starved sponges in seawater from their sampling site (the Ionian Sea). Culturable heterotrophic bacteria (22 °C), total culturable bacteria (37 °C) and vibrios densities were measured on marine agar 2216, plate count agar and TCBS agar, respectively. Total and fecal coliforms, as well as fecal streptococci, were determined by the most probable number method (MPN). H. perlevis was able to accumulate all of the six microbiological groups. Bacterial groups differed in their resistance to digestion by H. perlevis. Our data suggest that H. perlevis may accumulate, remediate and metabolize bacteria and that they may be employed as a useful bioindicator and bioremediator.

The Mediterranean Sea hosts 2 Sub-classes, 4 Orders, 14 Families, 24 Genera and 79 Species of calcareous sponges. Each species is exhaustively described and illustrated by means of historical and unpublished images of the skeleton and of sponge anatomy, in light and scanning electron microscopy. Distribution patterns are reported, as well as keys for the identification of different taxa. The present account is not a taxonomic revision of the group but, in some cases, some decisions and suggestions are proposed.

Preliminary data about the presence and distribution of Corallium rubrum along the Ionian Apulian coast are here reported. The study has been carried out in the areas of Santa Caterina and Santa Maria di Leuca (LE) at about 60-80 m of depth, by SCUBA diving. At Santa Caterina the colonies of Corallium rubrum showed values of density and size comparable to those of the most preserved Mediterranean populations, whereas lower values were recorded at Santa Maria di Leuca, thus suggesting the hypothesis of a major impact due to fishing activity in this site.

The calcareous sponge Paraleucilla magna, originally observed along the Brazilian coast (Atlantic Ocean), is the only allochthonous invasive species of Porifera reported in the Mediterranean Sea. A 1-year investigation of the population dynamics and life-cycle of this exotic species in the Mar Piccolo di Taranto (southern Italy, central Mediterranean Sea) has provided a good opportunity to test how environmental variations can influence its life-cycle and to ascertain what strategy can be adopted to successfully colonize a new environment. In the Mar Piccolo di Taranto, P. magna exhibits marked temporal changes in biomass. The specimens studied reproduce almost all year round, showing a seasonal pattern that peaks during warm months. This prolonged sexual activity allows P. magna to continuously produce young specimens, with repeated recruitment events taking place throughout the year, thus offsetting the seasonal mortality of adult specimens. This r-strategy enables the non-indigenous sponge to achieve a high degree of maintenance over relatively long periods (ten years at least).

This study was carried out to characterise the sponge fauna of the Turkish Kamil Abduş Lagoon. Only one sponge species (Hymeniacidon perlevis (Demospongiae, Halichondriidae) has been observed in alkaline, well oxygenated, polyhaline and high electrical conductivity waters of this shallow lagoon. The presence of this sponge species has been observed along 12 months on the hard substrate. Results showed that Kamil Abduş Lagoon is an important habitat for Hymeniacidon perlevis.

Il “coralligeno pugliese”, vero hotspot di biodiversità, tra i più importanti su scala mediterranea, è una particolare biocenosi marina distribuita lungo un ampio tratto di costa regionale (gran parte del settore ionico e circa metà della costa adriatica pugliese), composta da alghe calcaree e da grandi organismi bentonici (madreporari, spugne, ascidiacei, molluschi, briozoi, ecc.), che si sviluppano su un basamento organogeno costituito dall’accumulo dei loro resti scheletrici. Questa biocenosi presenta una struttura molto complessa e consente lo sviluppo di diverse tipologie di comunità bentoniche, che vanno da quelle dominate dalle alghe calcaree a quelle a filtratori, a quelle dominate da organismi endolitici. Il coralligeno è da considerarsi più come un “paesaggio” sottomarino composto da diverse comunità che come una singola comunità. Gli studi più esaustivi sul coralligeno pugliese, realizzati da ricercatori dell'Ateneo barese, risalgono agli anni '60-70 e sono soprattutto focalizzati sul settore adriatico e sulla fascia più superficiale della biocenosi coralligena, compresa entro la batimetrica dei -30 m. Indagini successive che hanno portato ad un più completo censimento faunistico, includendo anche la costa ionica, e ad una migliore comprensione dei meccanismi di formazione e struttura della comunità, non hanno tuttavia fornito informazioni sulla componente più profonda. Da alcuni anni, indagini compiute da ricercatori del Dipartimento di Biologia dell’Università di Bari hanno documentato la presenza di una ricca fauna bentonica dallo straordinario valore paesaggistico e conservazionistico nella fascia del coralligeno compresa tra -40 e -80 m circa, localizzata nel settore ionico. In particolare, lungo il tratto di costa tra Taranto e Santa Maria di Leuca tale fauna appare ricca di importanti emergenze naturalistiche, quali il corallo rosso (Corallium rubrum), le gorgonie (Paramuricea clavata), il falso corallo nero (Savalia savaglia) e le spugne commerciali (Spongia spp.), organismi target nella conservazione in ambiente marino. Questo lavoro intende fornire un primo censimento delle popolazioni di animali invertebrati del coralligeno profondo pugliese, con l’obiettivo di individuare adeguati criteri di conservazione e gestione sostenibile di tale importante risorsa e di valorizzare la fauna acquatica pugliese autoctona, anche alla luce di un potenziamento dell’offerta turistica subacquea.

The present study focuses on the reproductive success of transplants of the bath sponge Spongia officinalis Linnaeus, 1759, with the aim of investigating the possibility of restocking this species, one of the most endangered organisms of the Mediterranean sessile zoobenthos. Transplants of S. officinalis, collected from a wild population along the Apulian coasts (Ionian Sea, Italy), have been moved into an area where the species was present in the past. The transplants consisted both of specimens in toto and of fragments of different sizes, obtained after having cut the mother sponge into pieces. All transplanted sponges showed complete cicatrisation of the cut surfaces within a month of the initial manipulation and had a survival rate of 100% throughout the 12 months of the study. From the present investigation, it has emerged that the reproductive effort and the larval release by the transplants do not differ significantly from those shown by the source population. This successful technical approach supports its application as a strategy for restocking the population of this endangered species.