FW sponges?

[OrandaMan]

Do we have freshwater sponges in this area? If so, where could I collect them? If not, is there a way I could get some?

What I'd like is a tank with freshwater sponges, bryozoans and hydras, along with some local water bugs of some sort. Not sure that the hydras would be a good idea, in which case, I might use a small tank to keep them alone.

Anyone know how that would work out?

[Sea-agg09]

Dude we don't even have saltwater sponges around here (except for a boring sponge that eats away at oysters). I'm not sure, but I haven't heard anything about freshwater sponges living around here. They might be cold water too...

[OrandaMan]

Well, in the information I can find, they do exist in Texas and, in fact, more than one species. If I recall correctly, they can be found throughout the mainland United States.

Here's one page I found that specifically mentions them in Texas:

http://www.jstor.org/pss/2423990

I just have no idea where I should head if I want to find one and what to look for when I get there.

[OrandaMan]

Oh, and I believe I read somewhere that you find more species of freshwater sponge in warmer climes than in colder ones.

[OrandaMan]

Ha ha! Searching "freshwater sponges houston texas" in Google brings this thread up as the first link. Come on, people, there's a lot riding on this. :P

[Mzungu]

From http://dnr.wi.gov/org/es/science/cit...B-SS-1040.pdf:


Texas

Old, M.C. 1936. Additional North American fresh-water sponge records. Transactions
of the American Microscopical Society 55(1):11-13. (Includes records of four
species from this state.)

Poirrier, M.A. 1969. Some fresh-water sponge hosts of Louisiana and Texas
Spongilla-flies, with new locality records. American Midland Naturalist 81(2):573-
575.

Poirrier, M.A. 1972. Additional records of Texas freshwater sponges (Spongillidae)
with the first record of Radiospongilla cerebellata (Bowerbank, 1863) from the
Western Hemisphere. Southwestern Naturalist 16(3/4):434-435.

[OrandaMan]

Way cool - that second citation is the paper I linked to.

I'm thinking I might call TPWD and ask them about it. If I get any good information, I'll post it here. I'll also ask about freshwater jellies.

[Mzungu]

Here's an interesting discussion I found on the NANFA forum:

http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/9616-sponge-filter/

[OrandaMan]

Thanks, Mzungu, you rock. That gives me a better idea of where to look.

Also, I called both TPWD and the Houston Arboretum simply to see if they had any information. TPWD hasn't called back, but someone at the Houston Arboretum did. She said there hadn't been anyone there with that particular interest and she'd love to have whatever information I find.

[Mzungu]

Cool!

You've got me wondering about a tank at work that has something I've never seen before growing on the driftwood. I think I have a picture somewhere...if I can find it, I'll post it.

Posted from my BlackBerry using BerryBlab

[OrandaMan]

Sweet.

[Mzungu]

So, any idea what this could be?

Sorry the pictures aren't great, I took them with my phone a long time ago. But I can get better ones if needed.

[OrandaMan]

If it didn't look so hairy, I'd say it was a bryozoan. Probably a bacterial colony regardless.

As for sponges, I haven't seen one that looks quite like that, but there isn't a whole lot of information I can find, including pictures.

[Sea-agg09]

This is proving to be quite interesting. I'll do some looking around as well. Might do this is one of my tank.

[Mzungu]

This person has some pretty cool pictures of sponges! But I'm having trouble finding pictures, too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arne/3800674974/in/photostream/