Acanthella cubensis
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Porifera
- Class: Demospongiae
- Order: Bubarida
- Family: Dictyonellidae
- Genus: Acanthella
- Species: Acanthella cubensis
Visual Description
Acanthella cubensis exhibits a branching, arborescent growth form. The specimens observed in the TreeOfLife-200M dataset typically display a complex, irregular structure with multiple elongated, tapering branches that extend from a central base. The surface texture appears somewhat rugose or conulose, characteristic of many sponges in this family. The coloration of preserved specimens is generally light, ranging from pale beige to light brown.[1]
Ecology and Biology
Acanthella cubensis is a sponge species found in the mesophotic zone, typically at depths ranging from approximately 30 to 150 meters, as observed in the waters of Curaçao.[2]
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis characterizes A. cubensis as a low microbial abundance (LMA) sponge, meaning it hosts relatively low densities of microbial symbionts within its tissues. The prokaryotic community associated with this species is dominated by Gammaproteobacteria.[2]
This species was originally described as Bubaris cubensis by Alcolado in 1984.[3]
Gallery
References
- 1 2 Dataset view for Animalia / Porifera / Demospongiae / Bubarida / Dictyonellidae / Acanthella / cubensis constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- 1 2 Daniel F. R. Cleary; D. J. van Bendegom; Newton C. M. Gomes; Nicole J. de Voogd. Sponge-associated microbes in the twilight zone of Curaçao. Symbiosis. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-024-00992-6.
- ↑ Acanthella cubensis (Alcolado, 1984). GBIF. https://www.gbif.org/species/5183036. Accessed 2026-07-09.